Maritime license required

The Suffolk Times- If your job requires access to a secure port or vessel, you'll need to be licensed by Homeland Security.

A Transportation Worker Identification Credential Center opened in the Sea Tow building in Southold Thursday, beginning a partnership between the private ship-rescuing company and the Department of Homeland Security. It is the first center of its kind in the region and the last to open on Long Island.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, applicants either have to currently be -- or applying to be -- a port worker requiring unescorted access to secure areas of maritime facilities and vessels regulated by Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. Commercial HME (hazardous material endorsement) drivers licensed in Canada or Mexico are also required to be licensed.

Sea Tow chairman and CEO Capt. Joe Frohnhoefer, state Assemblyman Marc Alessi and Coast Guard Comdr. Kevin Oditt were in the Southold for the opening to explain the program. READ MORE