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Prayer Requests:
For all those who are at sea or away from family and friends this Christmas Season.
For Fr. Michael Austin, AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest Member who is dealing with debilitating back issues which are not able to be treated.
For Rose Patronella, long-time AOS Diocese of Beaumont volunteer and volunteer with the Port Arthur International Seafarers' Center. Rose recently had surgery and appreciates your prayers for full recovery.
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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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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Dear Friends,
I found this amazing photo on Facebook during Advent, and I thought it was a very fitting picture to kick off the New Year and the Year of Mercy. It is entitled "Save Me - the Hand of God" and is painted by Yongsung Kim.
This must have been the view that Peter had when he began walking on water, only to lose faith and doubt for a moment. But, though he doubted Christ, that same Christ just reached out his hand, as a parent would for their child.
In this New Year, where we are focusing on God's Mercy, it's beautiful to realize that He does forgive, and wants us to over-come our sinfulness. He gives us the opportunity to seek forgiveness, and freely gives it away.
But, like Peter, we have to reach up and accept His help and accept His forgiveness and mercy. He showers us with mercy, but only we can accept. Likewise, we also must give that same mercy to others.
Whether you are a Seafarer, a Port Chaplain, A Lay Volunteer, a Cruise Ship Priest, or a supporter of a Seafarer Center, someone in the ministry, or onboard ship has probably offended you or upset you at one time or another. Today, our challenge is to forgive. If we desire mercy, we must also be willing to give mercy.
I invite you to meditate on this picture. Imagine being Peter, and seeing Christ reaching for Him with utter love and kindness. Then, imagine being able to be the face of Christ to someone who needs your mercy.
Doreen M. Badeaux
Secretary General
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Serving Cruise Ship Passengers After the Death of their Child Onboard
Dear Friends, There are times when people question the need for ministry onboard cruise ships. Sometimes, even fellow maritime ministers question whether the passengers onboard need access to a priest while on holiday. Others argue that the priest should only be there for the staff and crew, as the passengers are only onboard temporarily. However, when Saint Pope John Paul II penned the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio" Stella Maris, on the Maritime Apostolate, he defined who we were to serve, which includes a great array of people including: merchant mariners, oil rig workers, maritime cadets, longshoremen, port personnel, and families of all these. (Just to name a few.) It may surprise people to know that he defined Seafarers as follows: Seafarers are those actually on board merchant ships or fishing vessels, and all who for whatever reason have undertaken a voyage by ship.
So indeed, the passengers, staff and crew onboard a cruise ship are all part of who we are to serve.
This past Christmas, one of our priests reported back on his ministry onboard a ship and how important it was that he was onboard for one family:
I just got back from the cruise . It was beautiful.
But we had an accident, the second day. A sea day. A little boy of 8 years old drowned in the swimming pool. His parents, Chinese Catholics, are very strong, but it was difficult. I gave counseling three times. They are very sad. We had one private service for him and asked God to get strength for them and accept the loss of their baby.
God bless you
Fr. Efren Ortega, PhD We ask you to keep this family in your prayers. We also ask you to keep the ministry in your prayers. It is increasingly difficult to help cruise lines understand the value of having access to religious services and pastoral care onboard ship. But we are all too aware of the true need that is out there. Imagine if that family did not have Fr. Ortega onboard for them in their hour of need? We know his presence and ministry made a difference for them.
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Sekimizu Announces
World Maritime Day 2016 Theme
Courtesy: Maritime Executive
20 November 2015
The IMO Council has endorsed a proposal by Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu to adopt "Shipping: indispensable to the world" as the World Maritime Day theme for 2016.
Addressing the IMO Council, meeting for its 28th Extraordinary Session at IMO Headquarters in London, Sekimizu said the theme would provide an opportunity to focus on the critical link between shipping and global society and to raise awareness of the relevance of the role of IMO as the global regulatory body for international shipping.
"The importance of shipping to support and sustain today's global society gives IMO's work a significance that reaches far beyond the industry itself," Sekimizu said.
"Today, around 90 percent of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. Without shipping the import and export of goods on the scale necessary to sustain the modern world would not be possible. And seaborne trade continues to expand, bringing benefits for consumers across the world through competitive freight costs. Yet the fact remains that most of the world's population is not aware of the vital role shipping plays in their everyday lives," he said.
There are more than 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations and manned by more than a million seafarers of virtually every nationality.
The World Maritime Day theme provides a focus for year-round activities while the day itself is celebrated at IMO headquarters and around the world in the last week of September. Since 2005, a formal parallel event has also been held, hosted by an IMO Member State. In 2016 the Parallel Event will be held in Turkey.
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Check out the latest report from CREWTOO entitled the Seafarers Happiness Index
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In the report above from Crewtoo, it discusses what makes a seafarer happy. This picture from the Port Arthur International Seafarers' Center, shows many factors of their happiness, in one photo.
Here, the Oiler of the Gener 8 Horn at Pleasure Island Dock was able to access shore leave just before Christmas. The Seafarers' Center brought him back to the Center where he had free WIFI for his phone, and where he was able to visit his cousin and his cousin's family. His cousin and family drove to Port Arthur from Lafayette, Louisiana to visit him. They haven't seen each other for several years, once the cousin moved from India.
- Easy access to shore leave
- An active, responsive Seafarer Center
- Free WiFi
- Family
That's what it's all about!
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Report: Jones Act Critical to U.S. National Security
Courtesy: Workboat Magazine
By: Dale K. Dupont
11 December 2015
China's growing sea power and the small number of U.S. merchant ships threaten U.S. economic and military security, a new report concludes.
China has "the ability to control - or even halt - shipping of essential goods by other nations. Nearly 30 percent of global trade currently passes through the South China Sea," said the authors of "Sea Strangulation: How the United States has become vulnerable to Chinese maritime coercion."
The authors, Hawaii Pacific University professors Patrick Bratton and Capt. Carl Schuster, said the best way to counter the threat is to "strengthen - and if possible expand - the U.S. Merchant Marine" by beefing up the Maritime Security Program and maintaining the Jones Act.
The U.S.-flag fleet includes about 80 ships engaged in foreign trade and 85-90 in domestic trade. The pool of mariners qualified for oceangoing service is 11,000 to 12,000. They are far outnumbered by the Chinese-flag merchant fleet in global trade, which counts 3,941 bluewater vessels, another 3,000 in coastal work, and 500,000 commercial mariners.
"America's weakness in commercial shipping could become our Achilles' heel," if war were to break out with China or others, who could blockade supplies for U.S. forces, the report said. What's more, "China does not need to blockade foreign ports to cut off the flow of goods: it will soon have the ability to control U.S. foreign trade" by manipulating shipping rates or ocean carrier service, the authors wrote. "The mere threat would disrupt global financial markets."
The Jones Act, which requires cargo moved between U.S. ports be on vessels that are U.S. built, owned and crewed, is critical to the nation's security. Opening U.S. coastal waters to foreign vessels would be dangerous, the study says. Attacks since 9/11 "would pale in comparison to the impact of a jihadist-controlled vessel entering a major U.S. riparian port with a thousand tons or more of explosives, flammable liquids, or toxic materials."
The act has come under attack on a number of fronts, including the higher cost of U.S. construction and cost of goods shipped to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but supporters have beat back attempts to change it.
"It is hard to believe that our maritime capabilities are shrinking to those comparable during the time of the Spanish-American War, when the U.S. government had to charter foreign-flagged vessels to bring coal to the ships of the Great White Fleet," Don Marcus, president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), said in the report. "Does anyone really believe that the world has evolved into a friendlier place where we can now entrust our security to foreign shipping interests?"
"We need to think about the maritime industry holistically, which is why I'm an advocate of the Jones Act," said Capt. Schuster, who's retired from the U.S. Navy. "The majority of the cost of a ship is its lifetime cycle cost. Construction is one factor over its 30-year life.
"In Desert Storm, Russia and China were on our side," he said. "Can we take that for granted in the future? No."
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Preventing Sickness Far Out
at Sea is Vital
Courtesy: Houston Chronicle
By: Sarah Scully
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Mark Mulligan photos / Houston Chronicle
Port Medical Management's Mike Arnold hands paperwork to a crew member after giving him a yellow fever vaccination at Bayside Urgent Care. Port Medical Management provides medical services for sailors whose vessels are in port here.
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SUSHANT Jadhav winced as the needle sank into his arm. He was standing in a treatment room at Bayside Urgent Care in Pasadena, where he and eight other members from the JBU Opal chemical tanker crew had lined up for chickenpox and shingles vaccines.
The crew lived in close quarters while at sea, and two members had already contracted shingles. Without the vaccine, the healthy Indian sailors would have risked getting sick from the same virus but far from shore and far from medical treatment.
Their vaccines were facilitated by Port Medical Management, one of the first companies that arranges medical treatment for foreign sailors in port. In the case of the JBU Opal, the ship's operating company, Synergy Marine Group, had called ahead after the first crew members got sick.
Once a shipping agent calls, the team of four based in an old one-story house in Montrose starts working its network of health care workers. Mike Arnold, an X-ray technician at the Pasadena clinic, also joined as a part-time employee because Port Medical was doing so much work at the clinic.
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SAN FRANCISCO- A 26-year-old Filipino sailor died from a "sore throat" at sea, and his Japanese ship was forced to stop in Mackay, Queensland, Australia, on January 4 so his crewmates could seek medical treatment after allegedly being denied medical treatment for two weeks. An expert described the incident as part of the growing problem with flag of convenience shipping in Australia. International Transport Workers Federation Australia national coordinator Dean Summers told the Daily Mercury in Mackay that "one of the worst features of the Panamanian flag of convenience is there will be no real inquiry into this man's death."
Flag of convenience ships are owned by companies who register them in third world countries to avoid scrutiny of poor operating and working conditions.
There is an Australian Senate inquiry into FOC shipping, including an investigation into three suspicious deaths on board the Panama-flagged Sage Sagittarius in 2012. Summers said the Filipino, whose name was not released, was a healthy young man who had a sore throat in China apparently from tonsillitis. He died on board his ship, Beaufiks, on December 19 on its way to pick up a cargo of coal from Queensland.
Nine of the surviving crew complained of similar symptoms, but were allegedly told they would need to pay $500 each to see a doctor in the first port of Gladstone. Summers said by law shipping companies should provide medical care, especially to seafarers who are paid so little.
In Mackay, the ITF fought for the seafarers to receive medical treatment, and they were later cleared by a doctor to return to their ship. The union wants an inquest by a coroner. The seafarer's body was taken to Rockhampton for an autopsy.
Summers said the incident came at a time when Australian seafarers were fighting to keep their jobs over flag of convenience crews.
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Shrimp committee members soughtCourtesy: The Brownsville Herald
4 January 2016
The state shrimp industry's fight against cheap foreign imports could get a boost this year if a newly reconfigured Texas Shrimp Marketing Advisory Committee manages to produce results.
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller last month issued a call for applications to fill five seats on the nine-member committee, created by the Legislature in 2003 to help the Texas Department of Agriculture market wild-caught TexasGulf shrimp.
The advisory committee is looking for one seafood restaurant industry leader, one retail wild-caught shrimp dealer, two commercial Gulf shrimp boat owners and one representative from the general public.
The committee is also charged with assessing the state of Texas shrimping and coming up with recommendations for the commissioner to pursue in promoting and expanding the industry, which Miller described as a vital part of Texas agriculture.
Miller spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the challenges facing the industry are some of the most serious the state has faced, and that wild-caught Texas shrimp "is being priced out by an inferior, imported product."
Gulf shrimpers until recently enjoyed a rare spike in prices largely due to disease sweeping foreign shrimp farms. Foreign producers got that under control, however, and domestic shrimp prices have again fallen in the face of cheap imports flooding the U.S. market.
Nashed said the Texas shrimp industry was a main topic of conversation when Miller visited WashingtonD.C. last month to meet with members of the state's congressional delegation and officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
TDA intends to help promote and grow the industry by educating the public about the difference between Texas wild-caught shrimp and foreign imports, she said. The agency will also continue working with elected officials and regulatory agencies "to protect consumers and ensure a common sense approach to the regulation of Texas shrimpers," Nashed said.
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L.A. Welcomes the Largest Container Ship to Visit U.S.
Courtesy: Maritime Executive
26 December 2015
The largest container ship ever to call at a North American port arrived to the Port of Los Angeles at dawn on Saturday, December 26. French shipping line CMA-CGM launched the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin on December 10.
The 398 meter, 18,000 TEU vessel arrived at APM Terminals' Pier 400 after sailing from China.
Up until now, mega-container ships of this capacity have been deployed exclusively on the Asia to Europe trade.
The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin will operate a regular service connecting some of China's main ports, including Xiamen, Nansha and Yantian with Los Angeles and Oakland. The vessel will call at the port of Oakland on December 31.
The vessel is longer than the Empire State Building and wider than an American football field. It is 1,300 feet long, 177 feet wide and 197 feet high.
The gigantic vessel is also model for high-energy production. Her 78-foot-long engine room contains a latest generation engine as powerful as 900 Ford Focus cars and her 21 knots thrust is equivalent to that of 11 Boeing 747-400 engines (3,000 KNewton). The vessel has the electric production of a city of 16,000 inhabitants (14MWatts).
The vessel has a crew of 26 members including a chef, and it also has a swimming pool.
It arrived in Los Angeles with containers stacked seven high, but at full capacity it is designed to stack 10 containers high. The terminal cranes are expected to be ready to take the vessel's full capacity by the end of 2016.
The Port of Los Angeles handled a total of 709,968 TEU in November 2015, an increase of seven percent compared to the same period last year.
"We've seen container volumes at and above 700,000 TEU for the past six months, which demonstrates consistency and the strength of our supply chain partners," said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. "With larger vessels coming into the transpacific trade this month, including the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, we can further show the gains we have made this year in terms of effectively moving greater volumes through our port."
Imports improved 7.6 percent to 358,423 TEU in November compared to the previous year. Exports dropped 5.7 percent to 142,020 TEU in November. For the first 11 months of 2015, overall volumes of 7,534,181 TEU are down 1.9 percent compared to the same period in 2014.
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El Faro Families See Wreck Photos for First Time
Courtesy: Workboat Magazine
By: Ashley Herriman
17 December 2015
Families of the 33 mariners who lost their lives aboard the
El Faro saw photos and video of the wreck for the first time on Wednesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the Oct. 1 sinking of the 790'x95'
TOTE Maritime ro/ro containership in Hurricane Joaquin, set up a webinar for the victims families to view images taken by rescue and salvage crews.
Jacksonville, Fla. NBC affiliate First Coast News reporter Ken Amaro was invited by the family of crew member LaShawn Rivera to view the images. Amaro reported on the story, noting that only four of the 400 containers carried by the El Faro remained with the ship.
"Our families have often wondered, and it flashes in your mind, what it might have been like," Pastor Robert Green, Rivera's father, told Amaro. "That is certainly one of the most troubling of things as we try to find closure."
Amaro reported that the NTSB told families there were still months to go in the investigation. The agency's most recent official public update on theEl Faro came Nov. 16, when NTSB announced that it had completed documentation of the ship and debris field, and would suspend the search for the vessel's missing voyage data recorder.
The wreck of theEl Faro lies in about 15,000 feet of water in the vicinity of its last known position near Crooked Island, Bahamas.
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Nichols to Build Two New U.S. Flagged Coastal Vessels
Courtesy: Workboat Magazine
By: Ashley Herriman
10 December 2015
Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc. has signed a $95 million deal with Nichols Brothers Boat Builders to build two new 100-passenger U.S.-flagged coastal vessels.
Lindblad specializes in "expedition travel" and has partnered with National Geographic to offer cruises in South America, Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia focusing on exploration, education, and conservation. Current U.S. itineraries include destinations in Alaska and the rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
Construction on the new 100-passenger vessels is due to start at Nichols Brothers in Whidbey Island, Wash., this year, and they are due for delivery in the second quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2018.
Lindblad had previously signed a non-binding letter of intent with Nichols Brothers for the newbuilds and paid a $4 million non-refundable slot fee during the third quarter of 2015 to reserve the shipyard's capacity. That fee will be charged against the second vessel's cost.
Jensen Maritime is serving as the naval architect on the project with interior design work provided by Tillberg Design International.
"These new ships mark an exciting step in the long-term growth of the company, and enables us to capitalize on the substantial demand for our expeditions. With our significant resources we can continue to deliver on our promise of expedition travel at its best, and can now expand our unique offerings in the Americas where we have very strong demand," said Sven Lindblad, president and CEO of Lindblad.
Nichols built Lindblad's current U.S.-flagged ships, the National Geographic Sea Lion and National Geographic Sea Bird.
The new vessels will have 50 cabins, 22 with balconies, and state-of-the-art expedition technology including a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), video microscope, and a hydrophone and bow-cam designed for immediate bow deployment to hear and film, for instance, humpback whale vocalizations and see bow-riding dolphins. Other amenities include a fitness room and wellness spa, diving gear, and a fleet of sea kayaks.
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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
Houston Maritime Ministry Training School
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