New Merchant Marine Stamps Released by the USPS
The United States Postal Service is honoring the U.S. Merchant Marine by releasing four stamps on July 28, 2011 featuring vessels playing an important role in U.S. maritime history, including a Matson Navigation container ship. The stamps will render a dedication ceremony on the 28th at Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.
The Matson ship is based on an undated photograph of the R.J. Pfeiffer, which was launched in 1992, and is depicted passing Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii. The containership illustration is meant to represent the containership era in America’s maritime history, and how without them the global economy as we know it would not be possible.
Matson’s president, Matt Cox, commented that they are honored to have one of their containerships featured in the stamp series. Matson Navigation is one of the top U.S.-flag carriers in the maritime industry, and is one of the main contributors to containerization in the Pacific region.
Maton's Pfeiffer on bottom right.
In addition to the R.J. Pfeiffer stamp, the new series includes images of a clipper ship, auxiliary steamship and Liberty ship.
The Merchant Marine stamp series are being issued as “Forever” stamps, meaning that they will always be equal in value to the current first-class, 1oz. mail rate.