Heard @ Headquarters 2004

More photos from 'Deep Freeze' (4/2)

Earlier this year, the Seafarers-crewed USNS Lawrence H Gianella completed a resupply mission to the U.S. McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Below are a few images from the voyage.

More photos and an article about the mission -- known as Operation Deep Freeze -- will be published in the May issue of the Seafarers LOG.

A few other images are available HERE

The International Labor Organization has adopted a new biometric identity verification system for mariners, but the United States won’t accept the new documents.

Read the ILO press release here

The full text of Convention 185 is available here

SIU-contracted Maersk Line, Limited late last week announced the establishment of a port facility and direct vessel service to Al Zubayr, Iraq.

“Maersk has opened a new gateway to Iraq at the port of Al Zubayr located 8 km north of the Umm Qasr terminal on the Khor Al Zubayr waterway,” the company noted in a press release. “The terminal is Maersk-operated and recognized by the Coalition Provisional Authority. British military and Maersk’s terminal security force provide 24/7 security for this facility which features 13 berths, 900 paved acres, and 12 warehouses providing approximately 176,000 square meters of covered space. Direct intermodal access by rail or truck to the terminal provides a projected annual throughput of 200,000 TEU.”

The first “vessel call” to Al Zubayr is slated to be made by the SIU-crewed Maersk Alaska in the first week of April.

“The use of U.S.-flag vessels, 100 percent crewed by U.S. citizens, projects U.S. maritime influence in Iraq,” the company pointed out. “Deploying two U.S.-flag, self-sustaining vessels to service Kuwait, Iraq, and Bahrain from Jebel Ali provides better flexibility and reliability for the service. Furthermore, the use of Al Zubayr will eliminate Kuwait customs issues and reduce the demand on other strained assets such as Kuwait ports, trucks, and military escorts.”

The full release is available here

The commander of the U.S. Military Sealift Command this week thanked crews of U.S.-flag ships who successfully battled a fire on the USNS Shughart in Kuwait.

Vice Admiral David Brewer, in a communication to five SIU-crewed ships and to Seafarers-contracted Patriot Contract Services, wrote, “I extend my gratitude and appreciation for your superb professionalism, dedication and unrelenting efforts in swiftly handling a recent engine room fire aboard USNS Shughart.

“MSC ... and the crews of USNS Sisler, USNS Red Cloud, Cape Ducato, Cape Douglas and USNS Shughart banded together under extremely difficult conditions and demonstrated a level of heroism and pride that is often trained to, but rarely called upon to successfully prevent a major catastrophe. Your combined efforts saved a vessel and, more importantly, saved lives. Your leadership and perseverance under hazardous conditions reflect favorably upon Military Sealift Command, the Navy and the Maritime Administration.

“Well done.”

A memorial service for retired SIU Vice President West Coast George McCartney took place March 26 in Piney Point, Md. He was laid to rest at the Seafarers Haven cemetery.

McCartney died March 19 in San Francisco. He was 72.

“I go back a long way with this union,” SIU President Michael Sacco said at the memorial service. “I’ve never known anyone who was more dedicated to the SIU than George. I always thought that if someone had X-rayed his heart, they’d see a ship’s wheel with the words Brotherhood of the Sea.”

McCartney began sailing with the SIU at age 17, in 1948. He took part in every one of the union’s major campaigns from then on.

He served for 17 years as vice president of the union’s West Coast region before retiring in 1998. He remained very active with the union and the industry even in retirement. The day before his death, McCartney attended the March membership meeting in San Francisco.

A more complete remembrance will be published in the May issue of the Seafarers LOG.