Membership in the Association is in the name of the Company. The voting rights are vested in the Regular and Special Member Companies which is defined in Article II of the by-laws as follows:

"Regular Members" Steamship Owners, Operators, Agents, Stevedores, Terminal Operators and other similarly situated, maintaining an office and place of business in the West Gulf area and engaged in the maritime Trade in West Gulf ports and which are not a subsidiary or affiliate of another member of the Association nor business entities, the majority of whose stock or ownership is held by another member of the Association.

"Special Members" Steamship Owners, Operators, Agents, Terminal Operators, and other similarly situated and maintaining an office and place of business in the West Gulf area and engaged in the Maritime Trade in West Gulf ports, but which have provided formal notice that they are not participants in multi-employer collective bargaining with other members of the Association. No direct employer shall be eligible for special membership.

The by-laws also provide for a Resident Representative Membership and an Affiliate (nonvoting) Membership. Each Member Company has one vote and is represented in the Association by the two certified representatives, either of whom may vote.

The Membership of the Association is divided into five geographical districts: the Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Sabine Districts. Each membership district is presided over by a District chairman and is represented on the Board of Directors.

The governing body of the Association is its Board of Directors elected by the membership.

The Standing Committees of the Association are appointed by the Directors and are composed of executives and employees of the member companies. These Standing Committees also function as the committees of the Houston District Membership.

"Stakeholders" An entity engaged in the maritime trade is eligible to be a stakeholder. Stakeholders are not voting members and are not eligible to chair any Association committee. No entity eligible to be a Regular Member or a Special Member shall be eligible to be a stakeholder.