New requirements for current Licensed Captains.

[Latitude9.5]

We'll see I turned in my Raise in grade paperwork two weeks ago in person in miami, no one said a word about this.

[btrayfors]

....to April 15, 2009.

DHS announces that the final compliance date for the TWIC program will be April 15, 2009, which is a change from the September 25, 2008 date!

Bill

[CSY Man]

Which office did you go to? Did you 'pre-register'? How painful did they make the process?

Yes, I did "Pre-Register"..Real easy, piece of cake..Just get on the TSA web-page for a few minuttes, then go down to the TSA office and do the finger-prints, photo and "interwiev".

Compared to other stuff I have done, this was pretty painless, except the $132.50..Hoping to get it back however.

[donradcliffe]

I'm going to sleep a lot better tonight, knowing that 1 million people have to spend $132.50 for an ID card because some lobbyist talked the government into it. What a waste of time and money!

[btrayfors]

Certainly agree with that sentiment, Don.

However, things being what they are, I went ahead with the online pre-register, set up an appointment at the nearest facility (35 miles away), and had the interview.

There, they fingerprinted me (for the umteenth time), took my pic, had me fill out a mostly disclaimer form, looked at my ID documents, and collected my money.

The price is $132.50 but if you present your Merchant Mariners license you can get a $27 discount. However, the catch is that the TWIC is good for 5 years at the full price, but only until the expiry date of your Merchant Mariners license if you choose to go with the $27 discount (I did, since I'd recently renewed my MM license and there wasn't much different in expiry date).

Then, the BIG catch as far as I'm concerned. "Come back in 6-8 weeks to pick up the TWIC card". No, you can't have it mailed or couriered or FEDEXed or whatever....you MUST come in person to pick it up. For me, another 70-mile round trip and at least 4 hours wasted.

And, they wouldn't give me their phone number so I could check if the card was ready..."we're not allowed to give out the phone number".

I'm sure we can all sleep better knowing that DHS and TSA are on the job :-)

Bill

[ssullivan]

Oh, good LORD.

What do they do with all that info on us MMs' anyway? I had always wondered that. I mean, aren't we much less likely to commit a crime than say.... an driver of an automobile?

[Latitude9.5]

I'm hoping we at some point come to our senses and this crap will be cancelled before April 2009 (call it wishful thinking).

[s/v 'Faith']

So I am listening to the radio this afternoon... and they say that the TWIC site at the Port of Pensacola will not close today as was originally planned but will remain open until 23 May.


Thing about that is that I had searched the TSA's web site it said that Mobile was the nearest site, with nothing in Pensacola listed!

Well, I just went online and there IS a TWIC office at the Port of Pensacola, but it is only listed under the Port of Pensacola's web site not TSA's.


So I go ahead and pre-register. The process only took about 20 minutes. The most noteworthy part was the drop down boxes for gender... they listed male.. female... and OTHER!. no kidding.

At least I won't have to drive to Mobile to pay my $132 bucks for the ID card I will never use...

[Tempest245]

The Hurdle was setting up a password..reading the password rules made me dizzy.

The deadline has indeed been extended...so I spent $132 bucks a year early..oh well.

My sources at the CG tell me that once in effect, the CG will not renew without it.

It was all in all a pretty painless process...

My State NJ....now tells me I need YET another fingerprint ID card for $62. In order to continue teaching their state mandated safety course. I need a bigger wallet...

Maybe a man-bag! would that make me ...an other?....ha

[Tempest245]

If I recall the " discount" was to tie the expiration of the Twic to your license renewal date. So depending on your renewal date this may or may not be a deal.

[Latitude9.5]

I was just looking through this, i just got my renewal when I did a raise in grade, they extended it another 5 years, so I was thinking of getting this mess done. anyhow, they now say this:

The Coast Guard has drafted a supplementary proposed rule (published in the same Federal Register edition as the TWIC final rule) that proposes to combine the elements of all four current merchant mariner professional credentials into one certificate called the Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC). The Coast Guard and TSA are streamlining the process for the two credentials to reduce costs, duplication of effort, and processing time for mariners. If the MMC proposed rulemaking is finalized as currently written, the Coast Guard would begin issuing the MMC in September of 2008 and would phase in the replacement of mariner's current credentials over a period of five years. Mariners would be issued their credential in the form of an MMC at the time they renew their current credential, or when applying for a new credential. The proposed rulemaking would not affect the validity of a mariner's current credential.

So if I am reading this correctly if I wait until september they will issue me a combination MMC? I guess I'll wait a few months and see.

[pogo]

Lat9,

I am due to renew June 09, and was told to wait until "renewal" when I would be issued both. They didn't mention if it was going to cost more (it usually does) or if it would be additional information or simply regurgitating (hmm does that word imply anything) the old stuff already on file.

[Latitude9.5]

I think i am going to wait and see if this combined license happens, then I'll get it done.

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

.....So I go ahead and pre-register. The process only took about 20 minutes. The most noteworthy part was the drop down boxes for gender... they listed male.. female... and OTHER!. no kidding.

At least I won't have to drive to Mobile to pay my $132 bucks for the ID card I will never use...

Well, I got it.

I waited almost 3 hours today, to pick it up and have it activated. Now, 3 hours does not seem like a LONG time and it is not.... except that in that time they only had 3 people in front of me.

I am glad though, it could have been worse. All 3 of the people in front of me got to the last stage of activating their card (entering the pin for the last time... to record it on the card). On the last step, the card refused to activate. All three of them now have to wait while new cards are made and will have to drive to Mobile to pick them up. :

Couple things I thought were interesting. I actually had to agree to this in order to get my card.

I had to agree that if I were committed to a mental health facility against my will that I would contact the Transportation Security Administration within 24 hours and surrender my card. Now I gotta worry about that.

Another thing I had to agree to and have to remember is that if I decide to participate in a terrorist activity, I must turn in my TWIC at least 48 hours in advance... (or was it 24 hours...?)

More stuff to think about.

[David M]

Originally Posted by s/v 'Faith'

Another thing I had to agree to and have to remember is that if I decide to participate in a terrorist activity, I must turn in my TWIC at least 48 hours in advance... (or was it 24 hours...?)

Its a good thing we have our best and brightest making policy at the TSA.