Two SIU-crewed vessels recently delivered vital cargo in Operation Deep Freeze, the annual resupply mission to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica.The ice-strengthened tanker Lawrence H. Gianella (operated by Ocean Ships, Inc.) and the dry cargo ship MV American Tern (Osprey Ship Management) did their respective parts to help ensure the operation’s success. The mission itself was overseen by the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC).
According to the agency, the American Tern delivered a year’s worth of equipment and stores. The ship arrived Feb. 8 and, as soon as its brow dropped, 59 U.S. Navy Sailors from a cargo-handling battalion began working around the clock to offload 12 million pounds of equipment and supplies for the 1,500 researchers and support personnel who work on the continent each year. The vessel departed Feb. 12.
Earlier, the Gianella arrived at McMurdo’s ice pier Jan. 28 and delivered nearly six million gallons of fuel to power the station’s generators, vehicles, helicopters and research boats before departing Feb. 3.
“The pack ice was very thick this year and never opened completely until late February,” noted Captain Robert Lee, master of the Gianella, who forwarded the photos accompanying this article. “Also, the Southern Ocean storms where active as usual, serving up 30-foot seas almost daily. The conditions were harsh, but the AMO-SIU crew members were up to the task. Some appeared a bit green around the gills coming through the storm belt of the Southern Sea, but that’s expected in the roughest ocean of the world. None complained and all continued to do their job in a very professional manner.”
He added, “Upon arriving at McMurdo Station, the hectic schedule of discharging cargo, refueling other vessels, cleaning tanks, loading storm ballast and giving ship tours to scientist and local workers all happened efficiently and without incident…. It was a job well done indeed.”
“Without the cargo delivered by our ships each year, McMurdo would not be able to function,” said Rick Appling of MSC’s Sealift Logistics Command Pacific.
Utilizing Seafarers-contracted vessels, MSC delivers more than 70 percent of the dry cargo and 100 percent of fuel that is taken to the continent each year.
Equally important, however, is the cargo that MSC takes off of the continent, the agency pointed out.
This year nearly five million pounds of items ranging from precious ice core samples to all the waste that McMurdo Station has accumulated over the past year were loaded onto the American Tern before it departed.
On its last day in port, the American Tern successfully transferred fuel to the Swedish icebreaker Oden, which arrived in the area in advance of the two MSC ships and broke a channel through about 18 miles of ice that blocked the ships’ access to McMurdo.
SIU members sailing aboard the American Tern during the mission included the following: Bosun Hernando Bansuelo, AB Vincent Hamm, AB Jack Jackson, AB Michael Ratigan, AB Erick Toledo-Colon, AB Chris Wilson, DEU Ali Zaidan, OMU Daniel Amesbury, OMU Jose Deoferio, OMU Joshua McDaniel, Steward/Baker John Gruebel, Chief Cook David Brown and SA Charles Mitchell.
Sailing aboard the Gianella were Bosun Trevorous Ellison, AB Stag Rye, AB Yves Goiset, AB James Hall, AB Clifton Doonis, DEU Victor Stewart, Pumpman Darrell McDonald, QMED Lamar Parker, QMED James Summers, Steward/Baker Mary Brayman, Chief Cook Alfonsa Eligio, GSU Regina Miguel, GSU Ali Salim and Unlicensed Apprentice Christopher Shivalier.
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