Sept: 12 | 16 | 20
Oct: 17 | 21

October 21, 2005

On Wednesday, the Sirius hosted a meeting for MARAD officials along with the captains and chief engineers of the other MARAD ships involved in Operation Katrina Relief. The meeting commenced at 1030 in the officers’ mess and adjourned at 1430. Various issues pertaining to the relief efforts were discussed including lessons learned. Overall, the meeting was very productive and many good ideas came out of the meeting.

The Board of Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans held a meeting today at 1030. The port officials were very grateful for the outstanding job the Maritime Administration has done in providing essential services to the port by providing electricity to the port warehouses, fuel to the port tank trucks, water, ice, hot meals, laundry, berthing, and a place to live for the longshoremen and port workers. The port officials stated that if it were not for the Maritime Administration, the port would not be near the level of operation it is at today. At that meeting, awards were presented to the captains of the Maritime Administration ships for the crucial roles the ships have played in getting the Port of New Orleans operational in a very short period of time by providing the essential services.

After the meeting, the Fox News Channel asked if it would be possible to do a broadcast for the evening news aboard the Sirius. After the port meeting, Kevin and Elizabeth from Fox News boarded the Sirius for lunch. After lunch in the officers’ mess, the interview started on the dock and then a tour of the ship proceeded with much video footage taken. Approximately, 1400 the news crew departed the ship very impressed with operation and excited about their upcoming story which was shown on the news at 2100.

At 1530, a fire & lifeboat drill along with a safety meeting was held for all crewmembers in the clearway of the ship next to the number 8 elevator. At the safety meeting, crewmembers received refresher training in the various classes of fires and the operation of fire extinguishers. Afterwards, the galley department received refresher training on the Gaylord system in the galley, the crewmembers assigned to the damage control locker participated in a mock cabin fire and the engine department went over fire fighting procedures for the engine room.

This afternoon, crewmembers were asked to complete the Ready Reserve Force Public Affairs Personal Data Sheet. The crewmembers eagerly completed the sheets and by 1800 approximately 85% of the crewmembers turned in the data sheets which allow the MARAD Public Affairs Office to identify the crewmembers hometown newspapers and send stories about the crewmembers humanitarian work to their hometown newspaper. A group picture of the Sirius crew was taken and will also be submitted with their personal data sheets.

Also today, crewmembers received two dark blue Sirius T-shirts for Operation Katrina. The crewmembers have been wearing their Sirius shirts proudly.

Currently, the Sirius is operating at maximum capacity. The cabins are occupied with longshoremen and other port workers who have lost their homes and many of their personal belongings. A total of over 600 meals have been served daily. Currently, the hanger is being used as a place to berth construction workers involved in rebuilding the Port of New Orleans infrastructure. Operations commence several times a week to fuel the ports tank trucks, and in the heat of the day, the longshoremen are still bagging ice in the ship’s clearway before heading to the docks to load or discharge another ship.


Captain Sam Stephenson
Master, Sirius