While a large contingent of SIU headquarters officials, rank-and-file members and unlicensed apprentices from the Seafarers-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education honored the service of merchant mariners during three Washington, D.C.-area National Maritime Day ceremonies May 22, their brothers and sisters in several ports around the country were busy paying their own respects.Seafarers and SIU officials participated in observances in the ports of Oakland and Wilmington in Calif., as well as at the Apostleship of the Sea of the United States of America in Port Arthur, Texas. While different in structure and program theme, each of the observances had a common objective: paying tribute to the service and accomplishments of our nation’s merchant mariners and the maritime industry as a whole.
SIU Assistant Vice President Government Services Chester Wheeler represented the union during a service and wreath laying ceremony aboard the SS Jeremiah O’Brien in Oakland while Wilmington Port Agent John Cox, Dispatcher Nick Rios and Patrolman Abdul Al Omari attended on behalf of the union during a National Maritime Day observance and memorial service in San Pedro, Calif. Deputy U.S. Maritime Administrator Julie Nelson served as the event’s keynote speaker. This ceremony was conducted at the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial.
In Port Arthur, Texas, the SIU’s Father Sinclair K. Oubre welcomed those who attended the community’s 20th Annual Maritime Memorial Service. Conducted at the Seamen’s Memorial Sundial, this event honored the Texas Maritime Academy at A&M Galveston and alumni. It also commemorated mariners and fishermen who have passed away during the last year. Rear Adm. Allen Worley, superintendent of Texas Maritime Academy, received the honor and delivered a moving speech on the importance of the maritime industry and the need for more of the country’s youth to become mariners. The Sabine Pilots laid the wreath in the water from their newest vessel.
Elsewhere, U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, released an official statement in honor of National Maritime Day.
The congressman’s statement read in part, “I am honored to take the opportunity afforded by National Maritime Day to pay tribute to our nation’s merchant mariners and to the entire maritime industry…. In 1933, the United States first honored our merchant marine by authorizing the designation of May 22 as National Maritime Day. Seventy-four years later, I particularly want to remember the estimated 250,000 Americans who served in the War Shipping Administration moving 95 percent of the goods and materiel used by the Allies during World War II.
“Some 20,000 of these merchant mariners were killed or wounded in that war—yielding among the U.S. Merchant Marine the highest casualty rate of any service according to the U.S. Maritime Service Veterans. Despite their service, U.S. Merchant Mariners still lack many of the benefits given to those who served in the other U.S. military forces engaged in World War II.
“Not until 1988 were World War II-era Merchant Mariners made eligible for services from the Veterans Administration. Not until 1998 were they made eligible for burial and cemetery benefits.
“U.S. Merchant Mariners have still never been made eligible for the GI Bill, or for the housing, educational or unemployment benefits that the Bill provided for other U.S. veterans…. I urge that the experience of these mariners be a lesson to ensure that we will never again deny any veteran who has served the United States any of the benefits he or she has earned.
“I also honor today the vital role that our Merchant Marine continues to play in responding to our nation’s emergencies. Most recently, U.S. Merchant Mariners helped evacuate an estimated 160,000 people from Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and provided aid and emergency assistance along the Gulf Coast to the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Merchant mariners also continue to provide the sealift capacity that keeps our armed forces equipped to fight the global war on terrorism. More than 8,000 merchant mariners serve in the Military Sealift Command, and … civilian-crewed military support ships have moved some 79 million square feet of cargo to U.S. troops in Iraq and throughout the world.
“Unfortunately, despite their significant contribution to our national defense and to our economy, our merchant mariners and our maritime industries are almost invisible in our nation….
“While the industry may not be visible, the cargo it moves is certainly visible. If every person takes the time to look at the labels on their clothes or on the furnishings in their offices or homes, they are likely to find that these items arrived on a ship from a foreign destination. Were this commerce to be interrupted, our nation’s economy could be devastated.
“And our reliance on our maritime industry is only going to grow. The U.S. Maritime Administration estimates that the total volume of trade handled by U.S. ports will double in the next 15 years—but we are not ready to meet the challenges this growth will bring. Our nation needs to build new port capacity. We also urgently need to support the growth of short sea shipping so that cargo can be economically moved between domestic ports and so that we can help get trucks off of our increasingly congested highways. At the same time, we must also ensure that our maritime resources are protected from further degradation—and we must move aggressively to combat the introduction of invasive species through ballast water.
“Further, we need to ensure that our domestic maritime industry is poised to be a continuing part of the growth in the worldwide maritime industry. According to the Maritime Administration, in 2005, the U.S.-flag ocean-going fleet numbered fewer than 200 vessels, of which 106 ships were Jones Act vessels—meaning that fewer than 100 ocean-going vessels engaged in international trade bore the flag of the United States. As a result, 97 percent of the cargo transported to the United States is carried on foreign-flagged ships.
“In my capacity as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, I will continue to support the development of a comprehensive maritime policy that will protect the integrity of the Jones Act, that will support the Maritime Security Program, and that will promote the growth of the U.S.-flagged fleet competing in our foreign trade.”
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