MarEx Mailbag: Reader Response to Last Week's Editorial

MarEx readers weigh in on previous online editorial about ship scrapping and nostalgia.

In our August 28th e-newsletter, we waxed nostalgic about the past and crafted that piece around the departure of yet another obsolete vessel from one of MARAD's three defense reserve fleets. The article talks about the 76th Ship Departs James River Reserve Fleet, the ex-USNS Rigel, to be recycled at the All-Star Marine facility in Brownsville, Texas. MarEx Managing Editor Keefe was briefly assigned to the vessel in 1982 – and then another, which was eventually scrapped. Under the loose category of "It's a small world," a couple of readers responded with memories of their own. MarEx readers can read the editorial entitled, "MARAD's Now Rapid Pace of Ship Disposal Evokes Nostalgia at MarEx" by clicking HERE. It was a light Mailbag this week, but a fun one, nevertheless. Read on to see our reader's comments on the article below:

* * *

Hello Joe:

I read your articles with great interest on my e-mail all the time, trying to keep up with the current maritime events, you do a great job. Now a bit more of history for you. I was a Captain for Union Oil and sailed as Captain/Chief Mate on the David D. Irwin or "Dirty D" as she was called in my time in 68 & 69. I transferred to the Pure Oil as Captain from 1970 to 1980 at which time I became the Captain on the Blue Ridge from christening in 81 until late 85 when I retired. My son Rick Rodgers also sailed on the Irwin as Chief Mate. You might remember him but I do not recall your name.

Yes, the Irwin was some ship and my being familiar with the piping and manifold system know exactly how the new owners felt with the clean up for grain. Looking back at some of our regular accepted (at the time) operational practices and comparing it to today's requirement believe we both would still be in jail. I have been very fortunate, could it be my longevity (83 years and going strong) is attributed to the good old smells of open loading systems in use at the time of all products such as toluene, xylene etc. before the closed inert systems were required as on the Blue Ridge. Don't get me wrong; I fully agree, however, with today's requirements however the licensing requirement are sure rough, so I am glad I am retired.

Hope this may be of some interest to you.

Regards, Capt R.

MarEx Editor's Remarks: Captain Rodgers and I only sailed together once. He doesn't remember me (that's probably a good thing), but I leafed through an old stack of "discharge" documents after I got his E-mail and found that he signed me off the S/T "BLUE RIDGE" in Mobile, Alabama in 1982. I remember well his son, having overlapped with his schedule at sea on many occasions. I should say that Captain Rodger's remarks regarding operational practices in the old days refer to strictly legal and everyday events on all tankships in that era and before. I enjoyed his letter, in any event, and we exchanged a couple more in the wake of his first one. Thanks for weighing in.

* * *

Joe,

I find that our world continues to shrink day by day. I sailed for a number of years with Gulf Oil Trading (GOTCO), spending most of my sea time on the drugstores Gulf Lube, Gulf Service and Gulf Seal. One of my saddest duties was to decommission the Lube (Jax, FL) where she was towed to Spain to be cut up.

Shortly thereafter, Tom Kerans attempted to woo me into joining Pure Oil, with the enticement that they were going to begin a new build program. That ultimately led to the Blue Ridge and one other vessel I believe. My recollection of the David D. was that she had a DC electrical system, and that when you entered the machinery space it was like entering a dark cave! The DC power was also found on the Gulf Lube which was built at approximately the same time. My recollection of the David D. was that she was not in as good condition overall as the Pure Oil, and I'm surprised that she apparently outlived that vessel. The demise of these vessels had a common thread; hot water butterworthing of tanks on virtually every voyage before the advent of reasonable tank coatings!

When I left Gulf (Nov. '73) I landed with Sun Ship in Chester, PA where I contributed to the design and construction of the Prince William Class of tankers which included the Kenai. I have always taken some satisfaction in the design and construction of these vessels even though they were initially looked down upon by operators, because when loaded with North Slope crude, they traded well short of their marks. In those days, if you weren't trading on your marks, the feeling was that you weren't getting your money's worth! Ultimately, these vessels were probably the first fully double hull tankers to be fully compliant with OPA'90, albeit roughly (20) years too soon. It's good to see them still trading over thirty years after their construction.

Finally, on the subject of the Rigel; I suspect that she was originally the Mormac Rigel. If so, I sailed on the Mormac Scan as a young cadet. She was also recently moved out of the James River fleet to be scrapped out a Sparrow's Point. It is indeed a small world, and like it or not becoming smaller each day!

Thanks for your article.

Gene Alley, Chief Estimator

MarEx Editor's remarks: A fun letter from Mr. Alley. I actually sailed as cadet on the KENAI is the summer of 1979, running up and down the West Coast from Valdez, AK to various West Coast ports. She was almost brand new back then, which in retrospect, probably wasn't a good way to start out since most of what I got to sail on after that was old and tired, with the possible exception of the S/T "BLUE RIDGE." KENAI was operated by Keystone at the time. I enjoyed my stay on her. Thanks for weighing in!

Link to newsletter archive