While there’s nothing unusual about the SIU aggressively pursuing new shipboard job opportunities, the union’s latest gain definitely includes some uncommon features.
Seafarers at New York Splash Tours will operate the new “AquaBus” fleet, which the company describes as “unique half-boat, half-bus amphibious vehicles offering New York City’s first ever land and water visitor experience, starting in April.”
Employees at New York Splash Tours late last year voted for SIU representation. As this issue of the LOG went to press, they were very close to finalizing their first contract.
The company already possesses one AquaBus and is building several more.
“This is a great opportunity for our union to expand into a new segment of the industry,” said SIU Vice President Contracts George Tricker. “The boats certainly are eye-catching.”
SIU Vice President Atlantic Coast Joseph Soresi noted that while the AquaBus’ unusual features and informal name (duck boats) inevitably have led to a good-natured joke or two, Seafarers are quite serious about safely operating them, whether on the water or the street.
The U.S.-built AquaBus fleet, constructed to meet rigid safety and environmental standards, “has been designed to evoke the memory of Henry Hudson’s famous ship, The Half Moon,” the company noted.
The “Splash Tour” route itself starts in Times Square, on the east side of Broadway between 47th and 48th Streets and navigates the streets of Manhattan to the waters of the Hudson River. At the edge of the Hudson, the boat will enter a theater for a multi-media experience simulating Henry Hudson’s journey, complete with the sights and sounds—and rushing wind—of an Atlantic sea voyage. Then the boat splashes into the Hudson River for a view of the New York skyline. After returning to land, the AquaBus travels back to Times Square.
The total trip time is approximately one hour. Each AquaBus can accommodate 47 passengers plus two crew members. The tours will operate from April through December.
More information is available on line at www.newyorksplashtours.com.
While the duck boats are new to New York, many other cities already have them, including Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and Atlanta. The design was covertly crafted during World War II, when such vehicles were used for transporting goods and troops across land and water as well as traversing beaches in amphibious attacks. It is estimated that General Motors built more than 21,000 of the crossover vehicles by late 1945.
After the war, according to an article in Smithsonian magazine, many of the duck boats “would end their days rusting away on Pacific battlefields or in forgotten storage depots in Europe. Those that made it back to the United States joined the gargantuan postwar garage sale. Some DUKWs served as rescue vehicles for fire departments in flood-prone towns. Hundreds were converted to odd-looking dump trucks or wreckers, and some went to sea. In California in the late 1940s, hunters of basking sharks harpooned their enormous prey from DUKWs.”
Although some of the history is sketchy because of its stealthy start, it is commonly believed that each letter in DUKW reflects a specific component. The letter D represents the year 1942; U stands for utility (amphibian); K means front-wheel drive; and W indicates two powered rear axles.
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