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After one shipmaster bows out, another – from Maine – steps up

By Bill Nemitz bnemitz@mainetoday.com
Columnist

MIAMI –  Hanging by a regulatory thread, the Sea Hunter's beleaguered mission to Haiti refused to go under Wednesday.

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Sea Hunter owner Greg Brooks of Gorham confers by telephone with the Coast Guard Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2009, morning.

Bill Nemitz photo

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In a day that saw one shipmaster decline to sail with the Maine relief ship and another step forward and tentatively volunteer to make the 700-mile trip to Haiti, the Sea Hunter's crew vowed to do whatever is necessary to win Coast Guard approval for the humanitarian voyage.

''I think it's going to go,'' said Brian Ryder of West Bath, the Sea Hunter's chief engineer.

Coast Guard Station Miami Beach, citing the lack of a licensed crew and various safety concerns, has kept the Sea Hunter under a ''hold order'' since Friday.

The 220-foot supply ship, normally used for shipwreck treasure-salvage operations, left its berth in the Port of Miami at 6:26 p.m. and proceeded to an anchorage off Miami Beach.

There, it will await the expected arrival Sunday afternoon of a shipmaster from Maine who, upon reading about the Sea Hunter's plight, called owner Greg Brooks on Wednesday morning.

The master, who asked to remain anonymous until he comes aboard the Sea Hunter, exchanged several calls and e-mails with both Brooks and the Coast Guard before confirming that he'd travel south and come aboard.

He faxed Brooks a copy of his Coast Guard license, under which he can operate a vessel up to 1,600 tons. The Sea Hunter's gross tonnage is 250 tons.

Following an afternoon meeting with Brooks and key crew members, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Michael Lingaitis said the ship and its crew have made significant progress over the past two days in addressing the Coast Guard's concerns.

''It's not ready for sea today, but by the time this other master shows up, it very well may be ready for sea,'' Lingaitis said. ''And if they're ready for sea and they've got a licensed crew on board, they're going to be able to sail.''

Asked if ''licensed crew'' means a single shipmaster or additional officers with licenses, Lingaitis said that will depend on the new master's assessment once he comes aboard the Sea Hunter.

''We've got to sit down and talk with him and see how he feels with the crew,'' Lingaitis said. ''We want to make sure that both the master and Mr. Brooks have all the tools to do the job that they want to do, and do it safely.''

Earlier in the day, shipmaster Richard Devins of Orlando came aboard the Sea Hunter and, with a written evaluation of the ship in hand, declined to make the voyage.

''I did it with a lot of regret,'' Devins said. ''But I'd be more regretful if somebody got hurt.''

Devins, a retired oil tanker captain and a 1973 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, listed eight reasons for not taking responsibility for the vessel.

He called for welding 10 20-foot supply containers to one another and to the deck, securing various loose items on the deck and in the ship's living quarters, and making other safety improvements.

Devins attached a poem titled ''I Looked the Other Way'' to the report.

''This poem makes it clear that a responsible vessel operator or person in charge would not look the other way when addressing the matter of safe operation of his vessel,'' Devins wrote.

After speaking at length with the new master, Brooks said they agreed that the conditions laid down by Devins were ''extremely overly stringent.''

The new master, Brooks said, ''asked all the right questions. I feel really good about him.''

Brooks said the plan, as of Wednesday, was for the new master to come aboard upon his arrival in Miami early Sunday afternoon.

''He'll spend Sunday afternoon and Sunday night'' meeting with the crew and inspecting the ship, Brooks said. ''And Monday, he'll either put his license on the line or he won't. But I think he will.''

The ship's departure from the dock to the anchorage came after three crew members -- Stephanie Ferrante and Shawn Jordan, both of Portland, and Allan ''Mac'' McIntire of South Portland, packed their bags and returned to Maine.

Brooks said they left because of a combination of personal commitments and a need to open up more space on the vessel.

''I wish everyone luck,'' said Ferrante, 28, who works as a marine archaeologist for Brooks' Sub Sea Research Inc. ''It's bittersweet, but I have work to do at home for the maritime salvage operations this spring.''

Jordan, a deckhand, said he had to get back to his wife and three young children in Maine and was afraid that the trip, already far behind schedule, might be delayed even further if and when the Sea Hunter gets to Haiti.

''I'm really torn,'' said Jordan, 31. ''But I can't get stuck in Haiti.''

McIntire, also 31, said his services as the Sea Hunter's security officer ''are not required at this juncture.''

Brooks, while expressing his appreciation for the efforts of the departing crew members, said their roles are not essential to the safe operation of the ship.

Two volunteers, Dan Kidd, 61, of Limington and Rick Woodbury, 49, of Scarborough, remained aboard the Sea Hunter for a journey that, by the time it ends, could extend well beyond a month.

Woodbury, who took a six-week leave from his job with the Portland Water District to make the trip, said he's resolved to ''just roll with it.''

''I know, once the captain comes aboard and sees the ship and crew, he'll go -- I just know he will,'' Woodbury said. ''And the Coast Guard, hopefully, will sign us off and we'll be off to do what we set out to do -- get these supplies to Haiti and its people. That's what it's all about.''

Gary Esper, the Sea Hunter's captain, said the crew will spend the next few days at anchor continuing to secure the ship's estimated 200 tons of cargo and conducting firefighting drills and other emergency exercises.

''We'll be doing a couple in the middle of the night,'' Esper warned with a smile.

Meanwhile in Haiti, the Rev. Marc Boisvert expressed relief that the Sea Hunter's mission was still, for the time being, afloat.

Boisvert, a Lewiston native, founded and operates Hope Village in the coastal city of Les Cayes. The orphanage and community assistance program plans to receive and distribute most of the donated food, clothing, medical supplies and other aid aboard the Sea Hunter.

Les Cayes, while not heavily damaged by the earthquake that devastated parts of Haiti on Jan. 12, has seen its population of 60,000 more than double in recent weeks as refugees have poured in from the disaster zone around Port-au-Prince.

''We are all praying for a quick solution,'' Boisvert wrote, ''as things are getting more and more tense here.''

Thursday evening, Brooks spoke by cell phone with yet another shipmaster with ties to Maine. Now in Oregon, that man, too, has expressed interest in coming to the Sea Hunter's aid, Brooks said.

A palpable sense of relief came over the crew as the Sea Hunter slipped away from the container dock it had occupied since Feb. 11, directly across from Coast Guard Station Miami Beach.

As the noise and commotion of the dock gave way to the twinkling lights and rolling seas at the mouth of the harbor, Brooks looked out from the quiet of the bridge and let out a long sigh.

''We're getting closer,'' he said.

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:

bnemitz@pressherald.com