SIU members and Seafarers-contracted employers recently earned accolades from the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA).
The CSA on June 20 hosted its annual safety awards luncheon in New Orleans. A number of SIU-contracted companies and SIU crews were among the honorees, including Crescent Towing (tugs Savannah, South Carolina, and Lisa Cooper), OSG (Overseas Long Beach), Crowley Maritime Corporation, Keystone, Intrepid Personnel & Provisioning, Ocean Shipholdings, Pasha Hawaii, Seabulk Tankers, E.N. Bisso & Son, Farrell Lines, Maersk Line, Matson, Patriot, and TOTE Services Inc.
“Since 1958, the CSA has also sponsored the Safety Achievement Award program which recognizes outstanding feats of safety that contribute to saving a life, a ship or other property,” the organization noted in a news release. “This was the fifty-ninth anniversary of the program. The awards programs are open to both CSA member companies and non-member companies.”
In opening remarks, CSA President Kathy Metcalf said, “CSA’s members are committed to safe operations, and CSA’s involvement in safety is longstanding with our ongoing commitment to represent the industry, domestically and internationally, on safety issues encompassing every facet of ship operations. It is only fitting that an industry so focused on safety, publicly recognizes the skills and dedication of the women and men who have enabled these many years of safe operations and who are responsible for actions in keeping with the highest traditions of the sea – aid to those in peril.”
Three vessels received CSA Citations of Merit. The Overseas Long Beach was recognized for the rescue of 12 Cuban migrants who were at sea for nearly two weeks with little food or fresh water. Crew members acted as translators and caretakers, providing medical aid, food, supplies and compassion for several days until the survivors disembarked off Key West, Florida.
The tugs Savannah and South Carolina earned the other two citations. Acting together, their crews “prevented a maritime safety and environmental catastrophe on the Mississippi River when they responded to a breakaway by a berthed bulk carrier due to the strong currents, heading uncontrolled for a nearby petrochemical dock,” the CSA reported. “The crews of the Savannah and South Carolina, in darkness, expertly and calmly navigated the charging current, lack of communication with the bulk carrier and parted mooring lines to bring the bulk carrier under control and into a nearby anchorage.”
Three CSA Letters of Commendation were awarded, including ones to Crescent Towing’s Lisa Cooper and Savannah. According to its mission statement, the CSA “represents U.S.-based companies that own, operate or charter oceangoing tankers, container ships, and other merchant vessels engaged in both the domestic and international trades and other entities that maintain a commercial interest in the operation of such oceangoing vessels.”
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