Enrollment Center News

Mariners and other transport workers seeking to renew their Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) will now be able to do so online following recent changes enacted by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).Starting August 11, 2022, current TWIC holders are able to renew their credentials online, which eliminates the need to go to an enrollment center for most applicants, including U.S. citizens, nationals and lawful permanent residents, and makes…

Last week, the Transportation Security Administration began nationwide implementation of a program that reforms the burdensome process by which mariners and other transportation workers receive required Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC). The TWIC OneVisit program eliminates the requirement that workers make two trips to a TWIC enrollment center to pick up and then activate their TWIC. Under the new, streamlined process, a mariner can apply for a TWIC at an enrollment center and opt to receive the credential by mail.

Maritime Workers Applaud Congressional Passage, Presidential Signature of Coast Guard Bill. On behalf of the American Waterways Operators (AWO) and its 350 member companies, AWO President & CEO Tom Allegretti thanked bipartisan leaders in Congress for passing and President Obama for signing the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act into law late last month. The bill contained several AWO-supported provisions, including legislation that simplifies the process for mariners…

Passenger Vessel Association Marks 10th Anniversary of Maritime Security Law; Calls for Reevaluation of TWIC. On the tenth anniversary of the enactment of the landmark Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) (Public Law 107-295), the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) takes note of the far-reaching security enhancements adopted by the U.S. flagged passenger vessel industry but also calls on Congress to re-evaluate the expensive and unsuccessful Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program.

The House Homeland Security Committee today approved needed reforms to the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program that would eliminate financial and logistical burdens faced by transportation workers under this federal security program. The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) supports language in the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting Act, known as the SMART Port Security Act (H.R.4251), which would postpone requiring workers to renew TWIC cards in the absence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) final regulations mandating biometric card readers. The bill also includes essential reforms to the enrollment, activation, issuance and renewal process.

Bill Would Reform Enrollment Process in Flawed TWIC Program. U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) introduced legislation today that would reform the burdensome enrollment process of the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC) program, which provides biometric identification cards to mariners and other transportation workers in order to allow them unescorted access to secure areas of ports, vessels, and other maritime facilities. Under current rules, merchant mariners, port employees, truck drivers, and other workers are required to make repeated visits to a TWIC enrollment center in order to apply for and obtain credentials.

Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, spoke with MarineNews about the merchant mariner credentialing process, TWIC, the new Centers of Expertise and the modernization of the Coast Guard's internal organization. Visit the Commandant's blog at www.uscg.mil/comdt/blog for more of his perspectives on the workings of the Coast Guard. What's the Coast Guard doing to simplify the merchant mariner credentialing process? Merchant mariner credentialing has been the subject of a lot of concern and reforms going back 10 or 15 years, to when I was a field commander.

The members of the American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association for the American tugboat, towboat and barge industry, elected Timothy J. Casey as Chairman and George Foster as Vice Chairman on Friday, April 3 during the AWO Spring Convention in Washington. Casey is President & CEO of K-Sea Transportation Corp., headquartered in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and served as vice chairman for the past year. Foster is President of JB Marine Service, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis. In his remarks to the AWO Board of Directors following his election as chairman, Mr.

Port and longshore workers, truckers and others who require unescorted access to the are now able to enroll for the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) at a second enrollment site to meet the high demand in the area. More than 200,000 workers are expected to enroll at the local enrollment centers before the compliance deadline. Currently, the program has enrolled approximately 40,000 employees in the region. Nationwide, more than 1.2 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply during the rest of 2008 and through April 2009. Workers at the are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic or the Coast Guard's Homeport site, http://homeport.uscg.mil.

Port workers, longshoremen, truckers and others at the ports of , and will begin enrolling individuals in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply in 2008. M-F: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. M-F: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. M-F: 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. , and are among the ports that have begun enrollment in the nationwide program. Ultimately, TSA will establish fixed enrollment centers at 147 ports and will deploy mobile enrollment centers to dozens of other locations as needed.

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has completed the initial employee enrollment process for the Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The federally mandated TWIC requirement created by the Department of Homeland Security is a common identification credential for individuals requiring unescorted access to secure or restricted areas of seaports. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) opened the TWIC Enrollment Center in Savannah, Ga. in November 2007. Since November, the GPA has enrolled all of its employees in Savannah and Brunswick. “The cooperation of all port users is required to ensure the program’s successful implementation in Georgia,” said GPA’s Executive Director Doug J. Marchand.

Yesterday, during a hearing convened to review the progress of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, called upon Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Coast Guard to address the issues impeding a seamless introduction of the program. The TWIC card was designed to prevent access to secure areas of maritime transportation facilities by individuals who pose a threat to our nation’s security.

The Port of Memphis will begin to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Worker Identification Credential ( TWIC ) program. The program's goal is to ensure that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat. Nationwide, more than 1 million workers with unescorted access to secure areas will apply for TWIC during the remainder of 2007 and next year. Memphis is among the first 40 ports to begin enrollment in the nationwide program. Ultimately, fixed enrollment centers will be in place at 147 ports along with mobile enrollment centers at dozens of other locations as needed.