Reprinted from past issues of the Seafarers LOG.1947
The Seafarers International Union forged ahead in gains for seamen recently by signing a pact with seven steamship companies providing for a 6 percent wage increase for all hands. The new agreements supplement those signed on October 23, 1946. The new contracts were overwhelmingly ratified by the membership in regular meetings held on Wednesday, March 12. They include Alcoa, South Atlantic, Eastern, Seas Shipping, Bull, Baltimore Insular and Smith and Johnson lines. The 6 percent wage increase is retroactive to January 1, 1947.
1962
Preliminary planning for a brand new union hall and shipping center for Seafarers in the vast Hampton Roads area has begun. The new construction would further the SIU’s continuing building program in all ports. A Norfolk facility would add another important link to the network of new halls developed on the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf during recent years. Announcement of the planned construction follows the formal opening of a new building in Houston this month.
1986
The eighth and final former SL-7, the USNS Pollux, converted for the Navy’s TAK-R Fast Sealift Ship program, was dedicated at Avondale Shipyard in March. These fastest cargo ships in the nation’s fleet are all manned by members of the SIU. The eight former Sea-Land ships are stationed around the country and are designed to move heavy military equipment such as tanks and other supplies in rapid deployment. The ships have a top speed of 33 knots and are powered by steam turbine engines….
The conversion included installation of several decks for vehicle and cargo storage, a flight deck with helicopter landing platform, two side ports with hinged platforms and a portable ramp, and twin cranes fore and aft.
1991
The SIU-crewed integrated tug-barge Frances Hammer received a commendation from the U.S. Navy for being the first merchant vessel to enter liberated Kuwait City despite the fact the harbor area was not free of mines and other potential hazards. U.S. Navy Captain R.A. Crooks of the Military Sealift Command commended the crew for its efforts. “Your support to the Military Sealift Command and other military personnel assigned to the port area was outstanding,” Crooks wrote the vessel on March 20 after its one-week stay from March 11 to March 17. “By allowing these personnel to utilize your facilities, they were able to keep their equipment fully operational despite the hazardous environmental conditions that threatened to curtail harbor clearance operations.”
The Ocean Shipholding vessel was sent to Kuwait’s capital city to deliver 120,000 barrels of water for the citizens and allied forces there.
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