The American-flag maritime industry’s quick and efficient response to last year’s hurricanes that tore through the Gulf Coast drew appreciative words from several speakers at the AFL-CIO Maritime Trades Department executive board meeting Feb. 24-25 in San Diego. As part of the industry-wide effort, SIU members sailed aboard at least 14 vessels that were involved in relief operations following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. More than 500 Seafarers sailed in those missions, including inland members.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said he was “proud of the way the maritime community responded to the tragedies.”
He pointed out that this marked the first time the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) “has been called to action in response to a domestic emergency. In all we sent 11 (Maritime Administration) ships to our Gulf Coast states to help with relief and recovery operations. On board were hard-working crew members from the Seafarers International Union, MEBA and AMO. In essence they became an instant hospitality industry, hosting operation centers, hosting headquarters offices, providing housing, food and other support for over 1,000 police officers, relief workers, port workers, stevedores and others.”
Turning with a smile to MTD and SIU President Michael Sacco, Mineta added, “Mike, I have to applaud your foresight in supporting steward classes for SIU members. The training certainly came in handy as they served up well over a quarter of a million meals, 3,500 meals a day (to relief workers and others on the ships). I had an opportunity to see these tireless crews in action when I toured the port of New Orleans right after landfall and the storm put our fifth-busiest port, the gateway to the nation’s interior out of commission.
“But because of the work of all of you, it was only temporary. I’m happy to report that the port is back to 100 percent of pre-Katrina levels. That is quite a turnaround and our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to the men and women who played such a critical role in making it happen. So on behalf of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and a very grateful American people: Thank you all. Thank you very, very much for your response to the hurricane relief effort and thanks to all of you for your continued contributions to the prosperity and the wellbeing of this great nation.”
Eugene Magee, chief of the Maritime Administration’s Reserve Fleet Division, said that the maritime industry’s response to the hurricanes suggests the need for a reserve fleet specifically designated for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“We are looking to create a new program very similar to the Ready Reserve Force,” he stated. “That means jobs for workers and more ships.”
Magee noted that a basic tenet of the new program would see ships arriving at “ground zero” within 12 to 24 hours after a disaster. In some cases—as occurred in New Orleans with two of the Cape ships as well as the USNS Pollux—it also may be possible and even preferable for vessels “to stay and ride out the storm in port. We have a heavy-weather mooring plan that the ship managers use.”
Magee indicated that FEMA officials “are very enthusiastic. They are going to take this program forward.”
James McGregor, president of SIU-contracted Ocean Shipholdings, Inc., related some of the behind-the-scenes efforts that occurred during the 2005 Labor Day weekend to mobilize vessels for the relief mission. He credited the SIU and other maritime unions for helping crew up the ships right away.
“You can’t run the business we’re in if you don’t have the trained and qualified (shipboard) personnel and you don’t have them ready quickly,” he said.
McGregor also provided a detailed look at each of the ships used in the relief effort—from the type of vessel to the crew complement.
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