OCEAN CARRIERS CONCERNED OVER ENDING OF CREW LIST VISAS IN U.S.

OCEAN CARRIERS CONCERNED OVER ENDING OF CREW LIST VISAS IN U.S.    The World Shipping Council, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents liner carriers, has expressed concern over a U.S. Department of State proposal to eliminate the practice of awarding collective crew list visas to international seafarers in the United States.
   If crew list visas are discontinued, the carrier group recommended that the longstanding practice of allowing vessels to call at U.S. ports with non-visaed crewmembers who do not seek shore privileges must be continued.
   It also called for “an expedited and workable U.S. visa application process” for seafarers, and said that changes should be postponed until the work by the International Labor Organization on a new international seafarer’s identification document has been completed.
   “If the ILO meets U.S. security objectives, the new document should be recognized in the visa application process for seafarers,” the World Shipping Council said.
   The carrier group said that the costs for obtaining individual visas for seafarers should be kept to a minimum. It asked the U.S. State Department to consider “possible actions” by other countries regarding their treatment of U.S. seafarers, if the U.S. discontinue the crew list visa system.