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Prayer Requests:
For the repose of the Soul of Shwe Aung's Father. Shwe is the ITF Inspector for the Houston, Texas region, and is a member of AOS-USA. He was able to be with his Father and family when his Dad passed away today in Burma. Please keep them all in your prayers.
For Mrs. Rose Patronella, long time volunteer with AOS - Beaumont and the Port Arthur International Seafarers' Center, who had surgery last week. Please keep her and her dear husband Joe in your prayers!
For Fr. William Reynolds, AOS-USA Vice-President, and Cruise Ship Priest Member who was recently hospitalized for a particularly difficult case of diverticulitis. He is home and mending now, but appreciates your prayers for full healing.
Fr. Bob Kieltyka, Cruise Ship Priest Member who is healing from a fall, and ndergoing testing for pressure on his spine. He appreciates your prayers.
For Fr. Don Donahue, brother of AOS-USA Member, Mary Mulkay who is struggling with health issues. Please keep him in prayers for full healing!
For all seafarers who are just starting their careers, especially those who are struggling to find work in the current economic climate.
Prayer of St. Basil of
Caesarea (ca. 330-379)
(Thanks to Msgr. John Pollard for sharing this one with us!)
Steer the ship of my life, Lord, to your quiet harbor, where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict. Show me the course I should take. Renew in me the gift of discernment, so that I can see the right direction in which I should go. And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course, even when the sea is rough and the waves are high, knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name we shall find comfort and peace.
A Seafarers' Prayer
O God, I ask you to take me into your care and protection along with all those who sail ships. Make me alert and wise in my duties. Make me faithful in the time of routine, and prompt to decide and courageous to act in any time of crisis. Protect me in the dangers and perils of the sea; and even in the storm, grant that there may be peace and calm within my heart. When I am far from home and far from loved ones and far from the country that I know, help me to be quite sure that, wherever I am, I can never drift beyond your love and care. Take care of my loved ones in the days and weeks and months when I am separated from them, sometimes with half the world between them and me. Keep me true to them and keep them true to me, and every time that we have to part, bring us together in safety and in loyalty again. This I ask for your love's sake. -Amen-
AOS PRAYER
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy upon all Seafarers.
(1 Our Father)
(Hail Mary)
Our Lady, Star of the Sea, pray for us.
St. Peter, pray for us.
St. Andrew, pray for us.
Lord save us,
or we perish.
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Join AOS USA Today!
To join AOS USA simply click on the following link:
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AOS/USCCB Website:
Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. (Psalm 107:23-24)
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This Veterans Day, Remember the Merchant Mariners!
This Veterans Day, we are celebrating the 5,000 surviving WWII Merchant Mariners along with every other veteran. They are veterans too and it is our duty to celebrate their patriotism and honor their sacrifice.
AOS-USA has for several years, pleaded with our Country to pass HR 563, a belated thank you to the Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II. Last week, Congresswoman Janice Hahn spoke to Congress to do the same. See the video below, courtesy of CNN.
Join us in asking Congress to honor our Merchant Mariners who have served our country in Peace and War, this Veteran's Day!
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We Remember the 40th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
 Dear Friends, Yesterday marked the 40th Anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. On this day in 1975, 29 men perished in Lake Superior. But the story seems fresh in our minds, as we have just lost the El Faro in a somewhat similar circumstance. Today, we honor the dead, and remember their families and friends and the communities that they came from, who 40 years later, still know the pain of loss. We invite you to check out the following video and link to know more about the ship and her crew. Museums recall Edmund FitzgeraldTo quote the song by Gordon Lightfoot,
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
May God bless each of them & hold them close to Him.
Doreen M. Badeaux
Secretary General
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How (and Why!) Gordon Lightfoot Wrote the Wreck of the Edumnd Fitzgerald
22 July 2014
Legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot joined SiriusXM Outlaw Country host Steve Earle to talk about songwriting The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald from his 1976 album Summertime Dream.
The song was written to commemorate the November 10, 1975 sinking of the American Great Lakes freighter the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
Lightfoot talks about how he managed to get his hit on top 20 radio.
"We had to nip [The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald] a little bit to get it in top 20 radio. But we did it with the instrumentals, we found a way to do it and shorten it down. Four and half minutes or they wouldn't play on FM in LA. They said, 'If you want it to be on top 20, you better edit it boys.' And that's what we did."
The 75-year-old Songwriter's Hall of Famer also shares what led him to write a song about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
"It was a very foul night in Toronto, I recall that evening. I had the melody, I had the chords. I think I was thinking about an old Irish dirge that I heard when I was about three years old at the time, but no lyric. I went down and looked at the TV and the ship had just sank about three hours before. So I went back up to the writing room again and I had the words."
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History says missing bridge may be far from El Faro
Courtesy: Workboat.com
By: Kirk Moore
10 November 2015
The bridge deck that separated in the Oct. 1 sinking of the El Faro could be a considerable distance from the ship - perhaps a mile or more - as is debris from historic shipwrecks that have undergone forensic study and analysis.
The 790'x95' TOTE Maritime ro/ro container vessel is in 15,000' of water near its last reported position in Hurricane Joaquin, and the National Transportation Safety Board says side-scan sonar is being used to map the debris field scattered across the bottom.
The big missing piece is the navigation bridge - where the ship's voyage data recorder was mounted - and the deck below. Despite their immense size, pieces of sinking ships can travel long distances laterally through the water column on their way to the bottom.
For a wreck in 15,000' of water, parts of a ship may conceivably separate and fall over an area of that same diameter, said Sean Kery, co-chair of the Society of Naval Architects and Maritime Engineers' Marine Forensics Committee.
As a rule, SNAME committee members do not comment on ongoing maritime accident investigations. But presentations at the society's World Maritime Technology Conference 2015 in Providence, R.I., offered some ideas of what the El Faro searchers are up against, as they scan the bottom off the Bahamas, three miles down.
"We've seen amazing amounts of damage as a ship sinks to the bottom," Kery said at a session on analyzing shipwreck debris fields. Flooding compartments, crushing water pressure and finally bottom impacts can break ships apart.
One case was the Edmund Fitzgerald, the 729'x75' Great Lakes ore carrier that sank 40 years ago Tuesday with the loss of her entire crew of 29. The wreck, broken in half and 530' down in Lake Superior, is surrounded by a debris field of "metal salad," shards that came off the ship as it broke up, Kery said. Another wreck studied by the committee, the 823'x118' World War II German battleship Bismarck sunk in the North Atlantic in 1940, hit the seafloor at an estimated 20 knots, its heavy gun turrets and other pieces separating on the way down, before the hull slid more than half a mile down the slope of a seamount and came to rest at 15,700'. Lighter ships with some remaining buoyancy in their compartments can travel farther. Engineering calculations for the water resistance of hulls, masts and rigging help forensic analysis of historic wrecks to model almost fluttering movements as they went to the bottom, Kery said.
Committee members would not comment about the El Faro's missing bridge. But in a situation like that, Kery said, "in my experience, it could be as far away as the depth...If it had buoyancy, it could have gone farther."
On Tuesday, the NTSB announced the resumption of the search for the El Faro bridge after operations were temporarily suspended Monday due to Tropical Storm Kate.
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Notes from Members
Dear sirs,
I would like to thank you for the membership card that has just arrived together with your kind letter.
We have discovered your invaluable association on our first cruise with Holland America in 2013. It was a pleasant and welcome surprise to discover that a Mass was celebrated every day. We usually try to find a Mass wherever we go at least on Sunday, but it was really comforting and pleasant to be able to go to the Mass every day and to meet many people from every country who shared our desire and need to thank God for such relaxing and enjoyable vacation, for the amazing landscapes and the wonderful places we were able to visit, and also to remember many people, less lucky, who can't enjoy serene vacation.
It was also important, and we do it every day when we are at home, to pray for the many people who work on a ship, from the captain to all the kind members of the crew, who work so far away from their dear ones. The priests on board the ship were also almost always on deck available for all the people who needed to talk; during the year life is sometimes so busy that we don't find time to meditate and talk, and it is good to find this opportunity while we are on vacation, more relaxed and calm.
I just wanted to let you know how I discovered your association and why I decided to support it, even from as far away as Italy.
My husband and I always remember your important activities and all the people who live and work at sea in our daily prayers.
Our kindest regards,
Cecilia Valetti AOS-USA Affiliate Member Dear Ms. Doreen,
I would like to express my deepest condolence to all on the loss of the El Faro... My prayers are with you!
Kindest Regards Alzbeta Kovalova
PCPCMIP consultor Slovakia
I have returned from the final voyage of HAL Ryndam.
There was a wonderful farewell from Venice and excellent ports of call starting with Split , Croatia , birthplace of St. Jerome . I took with me the map of St. Paul's missionary journeys and had copies made on board for the guests at Mass, suggesting that they read from the Gideon's Bible in their stateroom Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 12-20 and so turn the voyage into a Pilgrimage! I was amazed how many said along the journey, it was a like following in the footsteps of St. Paul . There was an Episcopalian minister and his wife on board who conducted Bible Study for an hour each sea day, which I joined in.
How surprised I was when some of the Protestants said they were following my map of St. Paul 's missionary journeys from copies given to them by Catholic guests!
Kind regards,
Msgr. Brian O'Loughlin,
South Perth, Australia
AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Member
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Attention Port Chaplains!
Help with Port-Based Welfare Services Survey RequestedCourtesy:ISWAN
10 November 2015
Dear Port Chaplains
Our friends at the ITF Seafarers' Trust are running a survey about port-based welfare services. It would be greatly appreciated if you could share the survey with visiting seafarers.
Participating seafarers will be entered into a draw to win an iPad Air.
and should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete.
Thank you for your co-operation - it is very much appreciated
Yours sincerely,
Roger Harris
Executive Secretary
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Armory Weapons Could Flood Black Market
Courtesy: Maritime Executive 27 October 2015
The recent decision by the Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia to reduce the size of the Indian Ocean High Risk Area could lead to a flood of weapons on to the black market as more private maritime security companies (PMSCs) go bust.
It has been common practice for private maritime security companies to rent from or store weapons on board floating armories operating in international waters, but as security firms close in coming months their weapons could remain unaccounted for.
ESC Global Security Chief Operating Officer Madis Madalik warns: "The geographical reduction to the Indian Ocean HRA from December 1 is good news for shipping, but my main concern is what will happen to the arsenal of very sophisticated weapons that bankrupt PMSCs have stored in floating armories."
"The past four years has seen the number of licensed PMSCs more than halve, as companies reel from a reduced requirement for security aboard vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden, and more are expected to go under," said Madalik.
The International Maritime Bureau reported in July that in the first six months of 2015 no vessels had been attacked in the Gulf of Aden or Red Sea.
"If the floating armories go out of business or if their clients are unable to pay to get their weapons back for decommissioning or proper disposal, then what will these armorers do with them: throw them overboard, sell them? This is a major concern," Madalik said. "The lack of regulation here has the potential to irrevocably damage the reputation and credibility of the entire PMSC industry."
The maritime storage of weapons is currently unregulated and while it is difficult to know exactly the number of floating armories in operation or the security risks they pose, a number of the vessels used in this opaque sector of the industry could be will be flagged with registers that are blacklisted or, indeed, unlisted.
"There is certainly no register of vessels or barges operating as armories and no inventories of the weapons they store," said Madalik, who estimated that about 15,000 weapons and four million rounds of ammunition could be stored in Indian Ocean armories alone. The weapons stored are typically small arms and semi-automatic, long-range rifles.
"This is a serious issue and one that is being addressed at an international level," said Peter Cook, Chief Executive Officer of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI).
"There are several voluntary standards such as the U.K.'s Open General Trade Control Licence Maritime Anti-Piracy (UK OGTCL MAP), ISO 28000 (Specification for security management systems for supply chain) and ISO 28007 (Ships and marine technology - Guidelines for Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSC) providing privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships) in place but mechanisms need to be developed to ensure that all floating armory owners adhere to best practice."
The report Floating Armories: Implications and Risks, commissioned by the Remote Control Project and published in December 2014 found that "none of the vessels currently used as floating armories have been purpose-built as an armory, instead, they are adapted craft. As a result, vessels may not have safe and secure storage for arms and ammunition".
The report concluded: "Floating armories are likely to continue to be a feature of the modern response to maritime security threats. Whilst such vessels may have originally been deployed to the Indian Ocean, their mobility means that they are easily re-deployable around the globe. An international response is required from the International Maritime Organisation, or another body, with the task of monitoring all floating armories and the companies that operate and use them." The first steps to regulate the weapons rental market are being taken with flag states beginning to implement measures to ensure the weapons used are only those owned or licensed by the PMSC hired by the shipowner.
However, while this might help towards preventing the use or rental of "unlawful" weapons, it is likely that the vessel's master will become responsible for checking license documents against weapon serial numbers prior to security personnel boarding the vessel. |
El Faro Memorial Service
Updated Video
Courtesy: AOS - Diocese of Beaumont, TX
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Join AOS-USA in saying the AOS Prayer each day!
Please take the time to say this pray with us each day:
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy upon all Seafarers
(1 Our Father)
(Hail Mary)
Our Lady, Star of the Sea, pray for us.
St. Peter, pray for us.
St. Andrew, pray for us.
Lord save us, or we perish!
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Important Upcoming Events for
AOS-USA Members
November 21, 2015
Houston Maritime Ministry Training School
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