AMO Currents - Relief for Haiti: AMO and the U.S. merchant marine

AMO Currents - Posted: February 4, 2010

Relief for Haiti: AMO and the U.S. merchant marine

By Tom Bethel
National President

The call went out, and -- as always -- the men and women of the American merchant marine responded. The mission this time was humanitarian -- relief services in Haiti, where a massive earthquake January 12 and a powerful aftershock caused untold destruction and despair.

The U.S. government's immediate and comprehensive response to this tragedy included the dispatch of the privately operated USNS 1st Lieutenant Jack Lummus, USNS PFC Dewayne T. Williams and USNS Henson to Haiti by the Navy's Military Sealift Command, the deployment of several additional MSC vessels crewed by civil service mariners, and the activation of three Ready Reserve Force Ships by the Maritime Administration in the Department of Transportation.

As part of the fleet mobilization, two government-owned fast ferries were called upon to assist in an effort hindered by the loss of Haiti's major port in the quake and the logistical complications of getting relief personnel, supplies and equipment through rubble and ruin to where they were needed the most.

Our union's response on one level was to commit to a donation of $25,000 to the Haitian relief project through the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations Solidarity Center Education Fund. The money will come not from the AMO treasury, but from the voluntary AMO Membership Assistance Program, or MAP.

The MAP fund -- established with Internal Revenue Service approval after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast -- is supported by individual contributions from AMO officials, representatives and employees and seagoing AMO members. Employees of AMO Plans in Dania Beach -- many of whom are of Haitian descent, and many of whom have family in the Caribbean country -- contribute routinely through authorized payroll deduction.

AMO's response on a more visible level was to man many of the U.S.-flagged vessels tapped for Haitian relief service.

The National Executive Board of American Maritime Officers and I are grateful to all of the private sector and government mariners participating in this widespread effort to bring help and hope to people who have known too much heartbreak over too long a time. These men and women bring credit to all U.S. citizen seafarers and to the U.S. maritime industry as a critical diplomatic asset, and they are truly representative of American character.

But we are especially grateful to -- and proud of -- the AMO members involved to so significant an extent in the operation.

AMO engine and deck officers were aboard the USNS 1st Lt. Jack Lummus and USNS PFC Dewayne T. Williams, both of which serve in Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadrons that carry afloat prepositioned cargo for U.S. military forces. American Overseas Marine Inc., a General Dynamics unit referred to commonly as AMSEA, operates the Lummus, Williams and 10 other vessels under MSC charters.

At Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, the USNS 1st Lt. Jack Lummus took on cargo from the U.S. Agency for International Development in the State Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, as well as equipment and supplies for the U.S. Marine Corps. The shipment included relief supplies, gear for the U.S. Marine Corps' 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit -- dump trucks, bulldozers and other heavy equipment -- and barges for cargo lightering off the Haitian coast.

"The 637-foot Lummus, with 165,000 square feet of cargo carrying capacity, was ideal for the no-notice mission," said MSC-MPS project officer Mike Neuhardt in an MSC press release. "Lummus was already in port at Blount Island, offloading its cargo for scheduled maintenance."

Like all AMO members, the officers aboard the USNS 1st Lt. Jack Lummus are accustomed to emergency conditions and "no-notice" assignments, and they handled them in this case with the professionalism, skill, dedication and urgency they are known for everywhere.

AMO engine and deck officers are also aboard the USNS Henson, an oceanographic survey vessel tracking the earthquake's damage to shipping channels in Haiti. The Navy techs and support personnel aboard the USNS Henson are doing their important work confidently, knowing that the vessel itself is in the world's most capable and trusted hands.

Members of American Maritime Officers are aboard the RRF ships called up for Haitian relief service -- the auxiliary crane ships Gopher State and Cornhusker State (both operated for MARAD by Interocean American Shipping) and the barge carrier Cape May (operated for MARAD by Ocean Duchess).

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

"These ships and skilled crews are ideally suited to assist in Haiti by providing unique capabilities," Acting Maritime Administrator David Matsuda added.

I'll second these comments -- gladly.

When the Haitian relief operation is over, the AMO members on the scene will return home with compelling, often grim but humbling personal stories to tell. But the story we will all tell together in American Maritime Officers is a familiar one, told by generations since the American Revolution. Its theme is unchanging-- the everlasting need for a strong and diverse U.S.-flagged and manned merchant fleet that can serve U.S. economic, military and humanitarian interests worldwide.