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AOS USA Maritime Updates 
The Professional Association of Catholic Mariners and the Official Catholic Organization for Cruise Ship Priests and Catholic Maritime Ministers. April 5, 2010
In This Issue
AOS-USA Member Helps in Haiti Relief
US Mariners Mobilize for Haiti
Jacksonville & local companies help in Relief
US Mariners help mobilize ships for relief
Ready-Reserve Ships Return Home
PrayingHands 

     Prayer Corner

 
May the Blessings of the Risen Lord be with All of You.

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Fr Sinclair Oubre photoLets Not Forget Haiti or Chile!

When Hurricane Katrina hit my hometown of Port Arthur, the news crews appeared for a couple of days, broadcasted about the flooding caused by the storm surge, the suffering of the people, and the beginning of the long process of cleaning up and rebuilding.

Then they were all gone, and the suffering of the people of the western Gulf Coast were quickly forgotten by most of America.

Now that almost three months have passed since the tragic earthquake in Haiti, we should follow the advice of Archbishop Dolan, and recommit to pray and donate the relief of our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean and also Chile.

Today, I have gone back to the Catholic Relief web site and have made a second donation to help in the relief. I hope that you can do the same for either our brothers and sisters in faith in Haiti or Chili.

In this e-newsletter, I want to pass on to you some of the great stories of how our American mariners have been able to help those effected by these recent earthquakes.

Yours in the Risen Lord,

Fr. Sinclair Oubre, J.C.L.
President - AOS-USA

Jon FurukawaAOS-USA Seafarer Member Helps to Coordinate MARAD Response



Editor's Note: Jon Furukawa is an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, and a Navy reservist. At the time of the Haiti earthquake, Jon was activated to assist in coordinating US maritime assets. We asked if he could share some observations about what was happening in days after the earthquake.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) stood up it's Command Center on Friday 15-Jan for the Haitian Earthquake Relief Operation.  I reported there after I got off work and assisted as one of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) liaison officers to MARAD for the next 16 days.  Other officers have followed to continue with the relief effort.    

Many U.S. and foreign military and merchant marine ships have gone to Haiti to assist in the earthquake relief operations including several crewed by U.S. merchant mariners. 

Military Sealift Command quickly sent several civil service mariner crewed U.S. Naval Ships including hospital ship USNS Comfort, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn, rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp, oceanographic survey ship USNS Henson, Maritime Prepositioning Ships USNS 1ST LT Jack Lummus and PFC Dewayne T. Williams, and dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea.

Upon orders from MSC, MARAD activated 6 U.S. civilian crewed vessels:  the ex-Hawaiian Superferries Alakai and Huakai, crane ships Gopher State and Cornhusker State, barge carrier Cape May, and the tankship Petersburg. 

I'm not sure about the nationality of the crews, but Crowley Maritime Corporation's container ships Ro/Ro Marcajama (Marshall Island flagged) and Lo/Lo Crowley Americas (Antigua flagged) are operating in Port-au-Prince.

The relief effort was named Operation Unified Response with just about all U.S. government agencies cooperating with each other.  In the middle of two wars, the U.S. has mobilized forces and national treasure to come to the aid of another country.  I am very proud of my country. 

Open source information.
MSC:  http://www.msc.navy.mil/
MARAD: http://www.marad.dot.gov/haiti_relief.
Crowley:  http://www.crowley.com

Cheers,
CAPT Jon Furukawa, USN
Commanding Officer, Merchant Marine Reserve Operational Command Headquarters Unit Washington, DC
Chair, AOSUSA Merchant Mariner Committee

MARAD logo
Mariners mobilize for Haiti (1/18):Maritime Administration Prepares Five Ships For Duty


The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued the following news release, which mentions a few SIU-crewed ships. (The release is dated Jan. 18.) Another Seafarers-crewed vessel, the hospital ship USNS Comfort, headed for earthquake-stricken Haiti this past weekend. Secretary LaHood Announces U.S. Merchant Marine Mobilizing for Haiti Relief

WASHINGTON -Today U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced that the Department's Maritime Administration (MARAD) is sending five ships to assist with relief efforts in Haiti. Gopher State, Petersburg, Huakai, Cornhusker State and Cape May are being prepared to sail to the Caribbean Ocean from different parts of the United States. All are owned or controlled by MARAD, and will be crewed by civilian U.S. merchant mariners.

"Sending these ships will help those on the front line of this effort save as many lives in Haiti as possible," said Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "These ships will add crucial capabilities by supporting operations to move large volumes of people and cargo."

"Once again the U.S. Merchant Marine is answering the call for assistance, as it has done since our Nation began," said Acting Maritime Administrator David T. Matsuda.

"These ships and skilled crews are ideally suited to assist in Haiti by providing unique capabilities. One cargo ship can carry as much as 400 fully loaded cargo planes."

M/V Huakai is a new high-speed ferry capable of speeds of nearly 40 knots in the open ocean. Petersburg, Cornhusker State, Cape May and Gopher State are part of MARAD's Ready Reserve Force (RRF), which includes a total of forty-nine ships at ports around the country. Additional details on the RRF, and Petersburg, Cape May, Cornhusker State and Gopher State can be found at: http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/RRF_FLEET_PAMPHLET.pdf

The Maritime Administration is unique in its worldwide capabilities, maintaining fleets and expertise in support of the US military and emergency operations. Its mission is to promote the development of the American maritime industry, including its workforce. The agency also operates the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York.

FACT SHEET ON MARAD SHIPS

M/V Huakai is a new high-speed passenger and vehicle ferry capable of speeds of nearly 40 knots in the open ocean. It was obtained by the Maritime Administration when a Hawaiian ferry company failed and abandoned it. Since late last week it has been undergoing preparations in Norfolk, VA.

MV Gopher State is a TACS crane ship based in Norfolk, VA. The crane ships were designed to provide the capability to load and unload containers and other cargo in ports where facilities are badly damaged or nonexistent. Their most notable features are the three independent twin-boom pedestal-mounted rotating hydraulic deck cranes. These crane ships can also carry containers, small barges, or landing craft, and recent exercises have proven their capability to discharge container ships far from any port, which enhances their military usefulness. RRF crane ships bear the nicknames of states in the United States: the Gopher State honors Minnesota.

MV Cornhusker State is also a TACS crane ship based in Norfolk, VA. The Cornhusker State honors Nebraska. It previously served in Haiti during Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY in 1994.

OPDS Petersburg is an Offshore Petroleum Discharge System tanker based in Alameda, CA. It has been specially modified to deliver petroleum products to military forces in areas where port facilities are damaged or non-existent. Within 48 hours of arrival on station, OPDS can be installed and commence pumping 1.2 million gallons per day from up to four miles off shore and at water depths down to 200 feet. If the ship is moored within two nautical miles of the shore, two different products may be pumped simultaneously through two separate conduits.

The SS Cape May is a Norfolk, VA-based sea barge clipper class (SEABEE) vessel, so that its characteristic cargo is barges, as well as sections of causeway, and other materials used by the Construction Battalions (Seabees) of the U.S. Navy. SEABEEs are militarily useful vessels capable of lifting outsized objects, such as 90-foot causeway sections or 110-foot Coast Guard patrol boats. Their most notable feature is the 2,000-ton submersible elevator at the stern. SEABEE ships are unique because of their ability to carry a vast array of military cargo. SEABEE barges, causeway sections, and lighterage comprise the usual cargo; SEABEE barges can carry bulk and containerized cargo. Each barge has a capacity of 834 long tons.During the Haitian crisis in 1994, a total of 15 MARAD ships were activated for operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY.

In 2005, nine Maritime Administration ships supported support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The ships provided meals and shelter for workers, emergency response teams and longshoremen, providing about 83,000 berths and 270,000 meals over 6 months.

Port au Prince HarborCity set to become major staging location




Jacksonville Business Journal
Friday, January 22, 2010
By Mark Szakonyi Staff Writer

Faced with limited sea access to Haiti, congested airfields and damaged roads, the U.S. military - with the help of local companies - is mobilizing a more than 800mile
supply chain of relief and reconstruction support.

The Port of Jacksonville is expected to become a major hub for relief distribution, along with Port Everglades and
Miami, in the coming weeks as Haitian ports are brought back online, said Maj. Frank Ross of the 832nd
Transportation Battalion based at Blount Island. That will mean more work for trucking, shipping, stevedoring and
thirdparty logistics companies to handle.

"We're getting ready for a mass movement of cargo," Ross said.

A 16member team from Ross' battalion was expected to arrive in Haiti Jan. 21 to assist in opening Haitian ports. The focus will likely be on rebuilding the ports at Port au Prince and CapHa�tien, which is on the north coast of Haiti, since they have been designated by the United Nations World Food Programme as two of the island's five major entry points. PortauPrince's main airport, an airstrip at Barahonas and a road connecting Haiti to the Dominican Republic are the other major relief gateways.
SSA Cooper LLC is handling the stevedoring for the battalion and had unloaded water and readytoeat
meals from trucks and packed them into about 100 containers as of Jan. 19, said Frank McBride, the company's operations manager at Blount Island. A barge was expected to pick up as many as 185 containers of relief supplies Jan. 22.

"We've got a night and day crew unloading the trucks and stuffing containers," he said. "We don't know how long the operation will last, but we've been told to prepare for the long term."

While teams replace downed cranes and rid port berths of debris at Haitian ports, Crowley Maritime Corp. and its subsidiary, Titan Salvage, are trying to get cargo into Haiti by sea despite the lack of functional docks.

The companies on Jan. 21 plan to access PortauPrince
by unloading cargo from a large container ship onto smaller vessels with rollon/rolloff abilities. Crowley's ship will attempt the operation after it drops off 56 containers of relief supplies at the Dominican Republic's Port of Rio
Haina, where they will be trucked into Haiti, said Crowley spokesman Mark Miller.

Titan Salvage also plans to use a 400footlong, 200 footwide flatdeck barge as a temporary dock. The company aims to have the temporary dock, equipped with a crane, operational in early February.

Crowley annually hauls at least 5,000 twentyfootequivalent
units, a container measurement standard, between the United States and Haiti.
 
The majority of the goods headed to the island are apparelrelated, such as cut cloth and zippers, and the finished goods are then shipped back to the U.S., Miller said.

Considering the extent of destruction, it's unclear when Haiti's apparel factories will reopen and if there will be workers to fill them. Miller said it was unknown whether the volume of shipping gained though the relief efforts would make up for the loss of volumes of apparel goods and other Haitian exports.

Sea Star Line LLC and Trailer Bridge Inc. (Nasdaq: TRBR) might also see increased business through the handling of relief and rebuilding supplies. Sea Star donated more than 50 containers, which were filled with relief supplies, to the American Red Cross. The emptied containers will be used as temporary housing for homeless Haitians, said Fred Schloth, the company's assistant vice president of marketing.
Coyote Logistics LLC, a third-party logistics company, is gearing up to handle more movement orders that are contracted by the military's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, said John Myhre, the company's government and emergency services account manager. The company's relief work so far includes managing the movement of about 10 trucks to the battalion's operations on Blount Island and providing about 40 tractors to move 40 government-owned trailers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's base in Forest Park, Ga., to Homestead Air Reserve Base in Miami.

As commercial shipping companies regain access to Haitian ports, there will be more opportunities for companies that can help rebuild the country. APR Energy LLC provides about 13 megawatts of electricity to a global organization in Haiti through 26 sites powered by its temporary power generators, said Eric Sean Kennedy, the company's senior vice president.

He said there might be opportunities for his Jacksonville-based company to provide more generators to other users and the customer whose name he declined to disclose. Kennedy said all of APR Energy's 40 Haitian employees were accounted for and the company was ensuring they had enough food and water.

Seafarers International Union Logo Seafarers Help Mobilize Ships, Donate to Earthquake Victims

Seafarers Log / 2010 Issues / February 2010
February 2010

Following a magnitude-7 earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, the SIU quickly stepped up to assist in what promises to be a very lengthy and challenging relief mission.At press time, no fewer than a dozen Seafarers-crewed vessels were involved in the Haiti action, officially titled Operation Unified Response.


Additionally, the union reactivated its Seafarers Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), partly in response to requests from members who wanted to donate money to the humanitarian cause (scroll down for more information).

The overall devastation in Haiti is difficult to quantify, but on Jan. 25 the Haitian government increased the confirmed death toll to 150,000. Officials also said that the number undoubtedly will grow, possibly to 200,000.


Within the first few days after the earthquake,
several Seafarers-contracted ships were activated
for the relief mission, and several others (already
in full operating status) were assigned to it. They
included the hospital ship USNS Comfort, the rescue and salvage vessel USNS Grasp, the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea and the replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn - all crewed in the unlicensed positions by members of the SIU Government Services Division.

Also mobilized were the oceanographic ships USNS Henson and USNS Sumner (operated by 3PSC), the prepositioning vessels 1st Lt. Jack Lummus and PFC Dwayne T. Williams (American Overseas Marine) and, from the Ready Reserve Force, the crane ships Gopher State and Cornhusker State (Interocean American Shipping), the tanker Petersburg (also Interocean American Shipping) and the heavy-lift vessel Cape May (Ocean Ships).


When those vessels and others were sent to help the earthquake victims, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood stated, "It is another example of why our country's merchant marine is so important. Sending these ships will help those on the front line of this effort save as many lives in Haiti as possible. These ships will add crucial capabilities by supporting operations to move large volumes of people and cargo."


Maritime Administrator David Matsuda added, "Once again the U.S. Merchant Marine is answering the call for assistance, as it has done since our nation began. These ships and skilled crews are ideally suited to assist in Haiti by providing unique capabilities. One cargo ship can carry as much as 400 fully loaded cargo planes."

While most of the ships blended into the enormous operation, the Comfort attracted immediate attention, partly because its services are so desperately needed. The floating hospital received its first Haitian patients late at night Jan. 19, delivered by a helicopter from the USS Carl Vinson.

Hours later, the Comfort dropped anchor off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Since then, there's been no slowdown aboard the 894-foot vessel, which has had multiple operating rooms running 24 hours a day.

According to the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC), the Comfort usually is kept in reduced operating status in Baltimore, with a "caretaking crew" of 18 CIVMARS "and about 60 Navy medical personnel who maintain the shipboard medical facilities, equipment and supplies." The vessel has a five-day activation period, but for the Haiti mission, shipboard personnel had the Comfort ready to sail in three days.


MSC reported that the vessel is carrying a crew of 67 CIVMARS, 560 medical workers "and an approximately 110-person contingent of support personnel."


The Comfort also was in the news last year, when it sailed in Operation Continuing Promise from April to July. That mission involved civic assistance in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Panama, Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua. More than 100,000 patients were treated.


Seafarers Disaster Relief Fund Accepts Donations for Haiti

In order to assist in the Haitian relief effort, the union is accepting donations to the Seafarers Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF). Money collected by the SDRF will be presented to the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center's Earthquake Relief for Haitian Workers' Campaign. With limited exceptions, anyone may donate through the SDRF - you don't have to be an SIU member. (The SDRF cannot accept contributions from a service provider for the union or the SIU Plans, or from a Seafarers-contracted company or any of such a company's representatives.)

Checks should be made payable to Seafarers Disaster Relief Fund. Donations by check or money order may be made at SIU halls or may be mailed to:


Seafarers Disaster Relief Fund

c/o Secretary-Treasurer's Office
Seafarers International Union
5201 Auth Way
Camp Springs, MD 20746

Additionally, cash donations may be made at the halls. Anyone making a cash donation will receive a receipt.

Please note that donations are not tax-deductible.


 
MARAD logoFinal U.S. "Ready Ship" Returns to Norfolk






MARAD 06-10

Friday, March 19, 2010
MARAD Office of Public Affairs
Tel: 202-366-5807


Haiti Recovery Progress Noted as Commercial Shippers Continue Services

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the SS Cape May is returning to Norfolk, VA, today. The Cape May is the last of three Maritime Administration cargo ships called upon for emergency relief duty in Haiti to return.
"We are grateful for the U.S. merchant mariners who have once again shown their professionalism and reliably performed their duties in support of Operation Unified Response," said Secretary LaHood.

"Their services in helping to restore critical supply lines played a vital role in the U.S. efforts to quickly save and start rebuilding lives in Haiti." The Cape May was joined by the SS Cornhusker State and the M/V Huakai in providing relief supplies and military cargo, including equipment to reopen the damaged seaport at Port au Prince. Each ship was activated by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense.

As these U.S. government ships return from Haiti, commercial U.S. shipping companies continue to carry materials and  supplies to the earthquake-stricken region.
 
Twenty-five U.S. commercial ships continue to assist in the massive recovery effort, including ships and barges operated by: Crimson Shipping (Chickasaw, AL), Crowley Maritime (Jacksonville, FL), American Cargo Transport (Seattle, WA), Dome Chartering (Baltimore, MD), and Trailer Bridge  Jacksonville, FL).

Crowley was particularly instrumental in reconstructing port infrastructure and performing salvaging work to permit efficient offloading of relief cargo.

"By all accounts, American maritime expertise and know-how has made a big difference for federal relief officials trying to get supplies into locations with badly-damaged port  infrastructure," said Acting Maritime Administrator David Matsuda. "The work of the logistics professionals at these U.S. companies is allowing a quicker, more efficient recovery for Haiti."

Additional details on the Maritime Administration ships which assisted in Haiti can be found at www.marad.dot.gov.

Shipping companies interested in transporting U.S.
government food aid to Haiti and other countries should contact the Agency for International
Development, Ocean Transportation: http://www.usaid.gov/business/ocean/
http://www.marad.dot.gov/news_room_landing_page/haiti_relief/haiti_relief.htm
Upcoming Events
 
May 11 - 14, 2010
AOS Regional Conference for North America and the Caribbean
& The AOS USA National Conference
Sheraton Fallsview Hotel & Conference Center
Niagara Falls,  Ontario, CANADA
 
May 22, 2010
National Maritime Day
 

May God Bless you with Smooth Sailing throughout your day!

Contact Info
Doreen M. Badeaux
Secretary General
Apostleship of the Sea of the United States of America
1500 Jefferson Drive
Port Arthur, TX  77642-0646
PH:  409-985-4545
FAX:  409-985-5945