t'' Oct. 30 SEAFARERS LOG 1964 OFFICIAL OROAW OF THl SEAFARERS INTERNATIONAL UNION • ATLANTIC, GULF, LAKES AND INLAND WATERS DISTRICT • AFL-CIO Trick Or Treat! Bulk Carriers' Needs Prompt Study By MA -Story On Page 3 SIU Vote Begins On November 2 -Story On Page 3 1; 8 Seafarers Retire ric.-i' r' On $150 Pensions '.:\K' -Story On Page 7 •i-; • •Ji- SIU VIest Coast Tanker Collides^ Burns; One Lost -Story On Page 2 Unusual SIU Welfare Benefit .. One of the most unusual benefits ever paid out by the Seafarers Welfare Plan cov­ ered all the costs of the quin- tuple tonsilectomies per­ formed recently on the five daughters of Seafarer Wil­ liam Gonzalez and for their I»F:li.: . m •' period of hospitalization. The Ir girls, shown at right saying "Ah" for nurse Genevieve Byers after their operations, are (1-r) Lydia, 8; Dora, 7; Darlene, 7; Anna, 6; and Cyn­ thia, 5. All five had their ton­ sils out on the same day at the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital at^New Or­ It'1^'" Ir t leans. Brother Gonzalez, who is presently at sea aboard the Afoundria (Wa­ terman), expressed apprecia­ tion for "the tremendous help that was given to us by the Plan," His feelings were sec­ onded by his wife and daugh­ ters; Gonzalez sails in the steward department out of the Port of New Orleans. mm Pare Tw« SEAFARERS LOG October SO, lOM One SUP Crewmember Perishm§ 51UNA West Coast Tanlcer Burns In Alaska Collision For the past 20 years or so, there has been a gradual change in the ANCHORAGE, Alaska—A few hours after she was involved in a collision with another nature of U.S. trade patterns. Whereas in 1937 bulk cargoes made up tanker in the harbor here on October 19, the Sailors Union of the Pacific manned Santa a little over half—57 percent to be exact—of all U.S. foreign trade, Maria was reported to be a charred, heavily damaged hulk. One Santa Maria cremember today almost 85 percent of this nation's foreign trade is in the form was killed and two others in-+-^ — of bulk cargoes. This trend has been a gradual, but a sure one. There is nothing wrong in the fact that there has been a change In jured in the mishap. tugs and the two men, Leland and that's where I want to be,'" she Oliver, were injured. Oliver later said. the character of our foreign trade. What is wrong however, is that The man who was killed described the events of the colli­ Inspection of the Santa Maria despite the change American policy has not kept pace—^with the result was crewman Eugene Hughes, 35, sion, saying he heard the general shows that a remarkable amount that U.S. ships now carry only about 5 percent of these cargoes. who came from Portland, Oregon alarm, got his life jacket and went of her cargo is still intact and will This, of coarse. Is of considerable concern to Seafarers and to all and a member of the Sailors to his station in the boiler room. be discharged. Tentative plans call other American seamen because of the impact of these statistics on Union of the Pacific. The injured "Smoke was coming in thick for towing the ship to Seattle for their job security. It also explains why the SIU has been arguing most were Hank Leland of Blooming- through the ventilator," he said. repairs. vigorously in every quarter for recognition of this problem. The sig­ ton, California and Edmund Oliver nificance of this condition extends beyond the maritime industry. It has of Long Beach, California. Oliver a direct bearing on the national economy and security, and so, in the suffered two broken heels and final analysis, effects every American. Leland an ankle fracture in jump­ It takes no particular genius to understand that with bulk cargoes ing from the burning Santa Maria, being the overwhelming dominant type of cargo today, and with Ameri­ which was partially loaded with can ships carrying an almost negligible fraction of this U.S. trade, we high octane gasoline at the time cannot have a strong merchant marine unless something is done to of the collision. correct this terrible discrepancy. The remainder of her crew When the SIU began, several years ago, to examine the causes be­ escaped injury and were picked hind the decline of the American merchant marine, we discovered a UT from the water by rescue boats. number of factors which are responsible. Among them was the change There were no injuries reported in trade patterns which resulted in the paradox of the bulk carriers— among the crew of the other ves­ this is the specter of huge U.S. bulk shipments along with a steady de­ sel, the Sirrah, under charter to cline in U.S. bulk ship participation. Shell Oil. At every opportunity the SIU presented these facts as vigorously as Hughes was at his emergency it could. We were not alone in our views, which were shared by others station in the boiler room when in the maritime industry. It was apparent that there were some who the word came down to abandon questioned the amount of emphasis which we put on this problem. On ship. Smoke boiled through the the other hand it became obvious that there was merit in the SIU area and other survivors said they position and people began to examine and review the facts a little could not tell what happened to more closely. him. He is still missing and pre­ We feel that our position that bulk carriers, along with tramp ships, sumed dead. must be the backbone of rin adequate American merchant marine is An investigation into the acci­ being vindicated by the gradually changing climate of thought on the dent was being conducted by the subject. The Maritime Administration's recent announcement that it Coast Guard at Anchorage. SUP crewmembers from the ill-fated SlU Pacific District- would review the status of the bulk carrier fleet is one example. In ad­ The Santa Maria was heading dition, the subject of bulk carriers will be on the table for discussion Into port when the accident oc­ contracted Union Oil Tanker Santa Maria pile ashore at Anchorage, Alaska after fire destroyed their ship following at the next meeting of President Johnson's Maritime Advisory Com­ curred. The second ship, the Sir­ mittee, which is concerned with the development of a long-range pro- rah. was at anchor. Acting port a collision with the tanker Sirrah. Rescue craft quickly gram to strengthen U.S. shipping. director Don Walter said that the raced to the scene of the collision, two miles from shore, Sirrah, which was loaded with jet The fact that these matters are being studied and discussed does and picked up the crew after they abandoned ship. The not mean that the solution to the problem has been achieved. We can fuel, apparently dragged anchor disaster claimed the life of one SUP man. and hit the Santa Maria amidship expect m^y more days of argument and presentation of facts before on the starboard side. crewmembers jumped aboard the the unrealistic policies which allowed the present situation to develop . Santa Maria crewmen said that was at my emergency station are corrected. But we, along with the others who are concerned with there was an immediate explosion when the ftrst assistant yelled Polls Committee the need for .a strong U.S. maritime industry, will continue to keep up and flames began billowing from 'abandon ship.'" the fight for an Industry that will assure American seamen of job their stricken ship. Flaming fuel "I was working with Eugene Guide III LOG op^rtunltfes and security, and the nation of a merchant fleet which spread along the water for a Hughes in the fire room and said As an aid to Seafarers serv­ is in keeping with our position as a world power. thousand feet. They said the Santa 'Lets get out of here,' but it was ing on various polls commit­ "rae United States is by tradition and necessity a maritime nation. Maria's skipper blew two warning so smokey I don't know if he fol­ tees during the upcoming SIU But statistics prove that today we are at best a fourth-rate nation when blasts when he saw the danger lowed me or not." General Elections, a Polls it MmM to marine and no amount of raUonalizaUon or employment of end called for a hard right rudder Santa Maria crewmembers had Committee Election Guide ap­ ^lIciM of exi^en^ which make our merchant fleet expendable can to swing the ship clear, but it high praise for the tugmen who pears on page eight of this bide the ugly fact. We either have a merchant marine consistent with was too late. took them from their burning issue of the Seafarers LOG. the nee^ the American people or our dependency on foreign ship- The Santa Maria crew fought ship, which they expressed in a The steps listed in the guide ®' l"*e™«"onal poUtics and relationships the blaze for a few moments, but letter to Anchorage's Mayor. are in accordance with the will be the only alternative. it soon became apparent that they One of the tugs which risked SIU constitution which de­ In light of our needs as a nation and the realities of life today there were all in extreme danger. The disaster to come to the aid of the scribes the duties of the Polls are few who would accept the latter position as a proper or sound one vessel carried 110,000 barrels of Santa Maria crew moved right Committee during the election.