These photos were sent to the Seafarers LOG by Jerry Lopez of Georgiana, Ala.
They were taken aboard the SS Hastings (Waterman Steamship Corp.) on a trip that began in New York or Baltimore Sept. 21, 1966 and paid off in New York Jan. 2, 1967 after traveling to Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Sudan, French Somalia, Ethiopia and Iran. Lopez, who signed on in Mobile, Ala., sailed as an OS.The top photo is of AB John Kelly (a former patrolman from Mobile), left, and OS Jerry Lopez, who were on the 8-12 watch aboard the Hastings. The middle photo shows the bosun and 4-8 OS, who are leaning on one of the Suez line handler's boats. These boats were picked up at the start of the canal transit. The bottom picture is a view from the bow, looking aft, as the ship transited the Suez Canal. After leaving the Navy in 1965, Lopez joined the SIU in 1966 and went through training at the New Orleans hall. His first ship was the SS Robin Trent on which he made his first around-the-world voyage. “My shipmates helped me to adjust from military to merchant seaman life,” he wrote, “and I have to tell you, it was a great time in my life, and I learned to appreciate the SIU and the ability to have representation and a contract to live and work by.”
In the 1970s Lopez attended electronics training and has worked in that field since.
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