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AOS USA Maritime Updates 

The Professional Association of Catholic Mariners, Cruise Ship Priests and Catholic Maritime Ministers.

 

September 15, 2014
In This Issue
Let's not overlook the great things our US Merchant Mariners and Fishermen do!
US Food-aid helps 4 million!
Cape Ray continues neutralizing Syrian Chemical Materials.
Statement by President Obama.
Salmon in Cebu.
Other News Items.
Upcoming Events
PrayingHands

    Prayer Requests:

 

Fr. Edward McKenna, Cruise Ship Priest who recently suffered a stroke. He asks for prayers from his AOS-USA Family.

 

For Fr. Bob Gorman, Cruise Ship Priest, who recently had surgery on his right leg, and is now in rehab for his leg. He appreciates your prayers for healing.  

 

For Fr. Stephen Duyka, AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest, who was diagnosed with a severe bacterial infection. He appreciates the prayers of his AOS-USA Family.  

 

For the repose of the soul of Bishop Cirilo B. Flores, beloved Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. 

He was Bishop a little less than 1 year and died shortly after discovering an aggressive cancer. Please keep him, his family, and the Diocese in your prayers.
 

For Fr. Nicholas Glisson, AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Member who has been ill. We ask for your prayers that the doctors will finally determine what the issue is, and bring him to full health.   

 

For the repose of the soul of Fr Bill Gold's sister Mary. Mary raised Fr Gold when his own Mother passed away at an early age. Fr Gold is a Cruise Ship Priest member. Please keep him and his sister and their family in your prayers.  

 

    

For Miss Mary Cadotte, step-daughter of Jim McGee, with the Seafarers' International Union in Houston. Mary was just diagnosed with 

Hodgekin's Disease, and is undergoing testing at MD Anderson.  

 

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   Lets Not Overlook the Great Things Our U.S. Mariners and Fishermen Do!

 

Dear Friends,

 

There are efforts in the Senate to turn the Food-For-Peace Program into a cash system. If these changes take place, many U.S. Mariners would lose their jobs, the US-flagged fleet could lose 7 or more ships, and the good work that is presently done by them would be lost.  

 

In today's newsletter, we share three different stories of how U.S. mariners and fishermen are feeding the hungry, making Syria safe, and feeding people in the Philippines as they struggle to recover from last year's hurricane.

 

Doreen M. Badeaux

Secretary General 

 

 

 

    U.S. Food-Aid Shipment Helps Feed 4 million in Sudan     

Courtesy: American Maritime Officer  

July, 2014   

The US vessel Liberty Glory carrying a humanitarian food shipment arrived in Port Sudan on 17 April 2014 after a 24-day journey  (Photo Courtesy: The Sudan Times.) 

The role of the U.S.-flagged bulk carrier Liberty Glory carrying a cargo of U.S. food aid was recently reported on by the Sudan Tribune as the ship delivered enough food to feed 4 million people, mainly in the nation's war-torn Darfur region.

  

Liberty Maritime Corporation's Liberty Glory, which is manned in all licensed positions by members of American Maritime Officers, is one of many U.S.-flagged merchant ships that regularly serve the time-tested and proven Food for Peace program, delivering U.S. food aid to nations in need around the world. Under U.S. cargo preference laws, a portion of all U.S. food-aid shipments is reserved for U.S.-flagged vessels, which provide a peacetime job base for U.S. merchant mariners, who are needed to man military sealift and defense reserve vessels in times of war and crisis.

  

The ship arrived at Port Sudan in April carrying 47,250 metric tons of sorghum, a staple food in Sudan, which is enough to feed 1.7 million people for three months, the Sudan Tribune reported. The Liberty Glory's cargo also included 12,510 metric tons of yellow split peas and 4,400 metric tons of vegetable oil, "with the total contribution comprising 43 percent of WFP (United Nations World Food Program) Sudan's annual requirements for 2014."

  

The acting charge d'affaires of the US embassy in Khartoum, Christopher Rowan (L), and WFP country director Adnan Khan welcome a shipment of food donated by USAID in Port Sudan on 27 April 2014. (Photo courtesy: The Sudan Times.) 
Working in 24-hour shifts, the crew of the Liberty Glory offloaded the cargo with the help of about 200 local workers.

 

"This contribution will enable us to help over 4 million vulnerable people cope with the approaching hunger season," said WFP country director Adnan Khan, who welcomed the humanitarian assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

  

He told the Sudan Tribune that clashes between government troops and rebel groups, as well as tribal fighting, had forced more than 300,000 people to flee their villages and to reside in camps. He said the shipment arrived in time to reach vulnerable people ahead of the rainy season, when the ability to grow crops is severely limited.

  

AMO members working aboard the Liberty Glory during this operation included Captain Jack Cunningham, Chief Mate Ruben Abasolo, Second Mate Robert Reilly, Third Mate Milosz Raciborski, Chief Engineer Luong Trinh, First Assistant Engineer David Eldridge, Second A.E. Jose Aguilar and Third A.E. Paul Hatch.

  

"The people of the United States remain committed to helping people in need in Sudan with life-saving food and other assistance," said Christopher Rowan, from the U.S. Embassy, who was in Port Sudan for the ship's arrival.

 

    Cape Ray Continues Neutralizing Syrian Chemical Materials 

Seafarers' Log

August, 2014

M/V Cape  Ray Arrives in  Medcenter Container Terminal
SIU-Crewed Cape Ray enters the Medcenter Container Terminal July 1 in Italy (U.S. Navy photo by Desmond Parks)

SIU members aboard the Keystone-operated Cape Ray are continuing their work in support of a lengthy international mission to safely get rid of materials from Syria's chemical stockpile.

 

In a briefing with reporters July 18 in Washington, D.C., Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby stated, "As of this morning, the crew has neutralized just over 15 percent of the DF (methylphosphonyl difluoride), which is a sarin precursor. This amount has been verified by the international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)."

James Lance monitors a hose filling a tank
James Lance, a wast handler assigned to the Cape Ray, monitors a hose filling a tank that's part of the field deployable hydrolysis system installed on the Cape Ray. This mid-June practice operation happened in Rota Spain.

As previously reported, the Cape Ray - part of the U.S. Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force - left Portsmouth, Va., in January with a crew of 36 civilian mariners, more than 60 chemical weapons specialists from the U.S. Army, security personnel and representatives the U.S. European Command. The ship sailed to Rota, Spain, and remained docked there from February to late June, when it headed for the Italian port of Gioia Tauro.

 

In Italy, the Cape Ray received 600 tons of chemicals from Danish and Norwegian ships before taking the materials to an undisclosed location at sea. Using state-of-the-art equipment that had been installed aboard the Cape Ray beginning last year, shipboard personnel in early July started the process of neutralizing the chemicals.

 

The neutralizing technique uses field-deployable hydrolysis systems that mix the chemicals in a titanium reactor so they become inert, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported. A safe pace of neutralization operations is expected to increase gradually, Pentagon officials added, and the total process is expected to take about 60 days.

 

According to the DOD, the second material scheduled to be neutralized is sulfur mustard, also known as HD.

While the Cape Ray's exact location isn't being publicized, the Pentagon is posting periodic updates about the mission online, and has a portion of its website dedicated to the operation. In the most recent post before press time for the LOG, the DOD reported, "Syria delivered 1,300 metric tons of chemical materials for neutralization. The Cape Ray teams will neutralize 600 tons, and the byproducts, called effluent, will be sent to Finnish and German facilities to be destroyed. The remaining 700 tons of material will be delivered to commercial and government facilities in Europe and the United States for neutralization.

 

"While the leftover neutralized material will be considered M/V Cape Ray hazardous waste, it cannot be used to make chemical weapons," the post continued. "Joint chemical weapons teams from the OPCW and the United Nations began securing Syrian chemical sites in early October, and the Syrian government gave up the last of its declared chemical stockpiles June 23."

 

SIU members sailing aboard the Cape Ray include ABs Walter Ott, Jerry Sobieraj, Shaun Wood, Timothy Squire, William Lima, and Mark Brownell, QEEs Kevin Quinlan and Mark Maduro, Oilers Joel Bell, Fatim Rashed and John Gryko, GVA Alexander Rodriquez, Steward/Baker Edward Banks, Chief Cooks Alba Ayala, Marcus Logan and Anthony Rutland, and SAs Cornelius Taylor, Kevin Arroyo, Sheneisha Thompson, and Naziruddin Patankar. 


Statement by President Obama on the Completion by the M/V Cape Ray of the Destruction of Syria's Declared Chemical Weapons

 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 18, 2014

  President Obama

Today we mark an important achievement in our ongoing effort  to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction by eliminating Syria's declared chemical weapons stockpile. The most lethal declared chemical weapons possessed by the Syrian regime were destroyed by dedicated U.S. civilian and military professionals using a unique American capability aboard the M/V Cape Ray - and they did so aboard that U.S. vessel several weeks ahead of schedule. This is a major milestone in the international community's efforts under the leadership of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to rid the Syrian regime of its chemical weapons. It further advances our collective goal to ensure that the Asad regime cannot use its chemical arsenal against the Syrian people and sends a clear message that the use of these abhorrent weapons has consequences and will not be tolerated by the international community. 

 

We are grateful to the United Nations-OPCW Joint Mission and the entire international coalition for their unprecedented achievements. In particular, we appreciate the dedication of Joint Mission Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag, OPCW Director General Uzumcu, and their teams for their vital work. We also thank our close allies and partners - Denmark, Norway, Italy, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom - for their key contributions to this mission, and we appreciate the assistance of Russia and China. Going forward, we will watch closely to see that Syria fulfills its commitment to destroy its remaining declared chemical weapons production facilities. In addition, serious questions remain with respect to the omissions and discrepancies in Syria's declaration to the OPCW and about continued allegations of use. These concerns must be addressed, and we will work closely with the OPCW and the international community to seek resolution of these open issues, even as we broadly press the Asad regime to end the horrific atrocities it continues to commit against its people.
 

    Salmon in Cebu

      By: Nina Schlossman

2 July 2014


(Words and photos from my experiences with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's Global Food Aid Program. I'm a young commercial fisherman, proud to see Alaska's wild, sustainably-caught fish feed people around the world.)

 
Cebu, Philippines:   
 
My life seems to revolve around fish. Today I am in the Philippines, because of salmon. Let me explain. Last summer's pink salmon season in Alaska was record-breaking. Commercial fishermen went into the fall with smiles on our faces and cash in our pockets. As we were enjoying the fruits of our salty, sweaty, sleep-deprived labor, in November 2013 a typhoon halfway across the world tore through the Philippines, leaving unimaginable devastation in its wake. The death toll is estimated by locals to be in the tens of thousands. Typhoon Yolanda was the deadliest in Philippine history. Its repercussions are deeply and widely felt here, and will be for many years.
People Receive Food
People in Medellin line up to receive their salmon.

With the surplus of canned pink salmon available after our record year, the state of Alaska in connection with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), was able to donate four shipping containers of salmon to the typhoon victims. The salmon is being distributed by Salesian Missions and their partner organization, Don Bosco, a Catholic NGO here in Cebu, Philippines, where I am writing today.
People with their goods leaving the church in Medellin.
People with their goods leaving the church in Medellin.

I am with Nina Schlossman, president of Global Food and Nutrition who is ASMI's Food Aid and Nutrition Consultant. We are visiting the people who received the salmon, and witnessing the donation first-hand. Today we drove to the northern end of the island of Cebu, and talked with some communities hit by Yolanda who have received the fish. Families in these communities are large, many with over six children. Work has also been scarce since Yolanda, increasing already-present poverty. If feeding their kids was tough pre-typhoon, it is even harder now.

People seem genuinely grateful for the canned salmon, especially since many NGOs have withdrawn their emergency aid to focus on reconstruction - of shelters, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. Yolanda was 8 months ago, but times are still rough and any contribution is appreciated. I am utterly impressed at how, despite everything, Filipinos are smiling, laughing, and carrying forward.

(For additional similar blogs on this topic from Nina, see: http://salmon-berry.blogspot.com/?m=1)   
Other News Items  

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin #119/ 2014/ II 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin #118 Spring 2014 

 

Catholic Maritime News Spring 2014 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N. 117 Dec 2013 

 

Catholic Maritime News - Winter 2013 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N.116 June 2013/III

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N.115 June 2013/II 

 

Catholic Maritime News Spring 2013 No. 72  

 

 Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N.114 March 2013/I 

 

 

Catholic Maritime News Winter 2012 No. 71 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N.113 2012/III   

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin N.112 2012/II  

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin April 2012 (111)  

   

2012 Easter Message from the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin December 2011 (110) 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin Sept 2011 (109) 

 

Apostolatus Maris Bulletin July 2011 (108)   

 

Audio Report: No Pirates of the Caribbean - Vatican Radio (December 7, 2011) 

 

Piracy video from Lloyd's List 

 

 

Important Upcoming Events for
AOS USA Members

   

Houston Maritime Ministry Training School
Feb. 1 - 13, 2015
Houston International Seafarers' Center
Click below for the application:
Houston School Application 2015 
 
AOS-USA Annual Conference
April 21 - 23, 2014
American Maritime Officers Union
Dania, Florida

National Maritime Day
May 22, 2015
 

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