The Merchant Marine Express

I hope you’ve all enjoyed your Fourth of July. It ended up to be a quiet evening, here, as I had to work the Watch between 4pm until midnight and every night at that time. One thing of interest,however that I did do, that day- I had walked over to the local Seaman’s Club for a noon time ice tea. There, I happened upon some mariners off a local container ship, the Motor Vessel Maunalei, as it was being loaded and unloaded at the port in Apra harbor, just across from where our ship was ‘berthed’. It’s owned and operated by Matson Navigation, the same outfit I interned as a cadet during the Summer of 1998 on board the container ship, the M/V Mokihana.

But as I was speaking with a gentleman off yet, another ship, our conversation of my Alma Mater, the California Maritime Academy , he then directed my attention to the Third Engineer sitting a couple seats away. Apparently, this engineer off the Maunalei, just graduated from CMA just a few months ago, and established himself, on board one of the newest container ship around. I kindly introduced myself and we spoke of the academy and how its changed over the years. It was nice to get first hand knowledge on the most recent progression of the academy and also I received some answers from questions I’ve just been dying to ask such as, “How has the new President of the academy faired in the last five years?” or “What do most of the Corps (student body) think of the changes affecting the demise of the traditional Divisional System?”
When I attended Cal Maritime, back in the nineties, I was placed in a Division known as “3D”, which stood for Three-deck. Among eight divisions, there were equal Engineering and Deck Divisions and all of five hundred cadets were distributed among those divisions. Well, in recent past, the student body has grown beyond seven-hundred fifty and the accredited school has had to accommodate its cadets by restructuring the divisions as ‘companies’- bringing the academy back into a strict regiment as other academies elsewhere, in the nation. Gone are the divisions I knew, now replaced with these aforementioned quasi military ‘companies’ amounting to a half dozen, and grouped into their scholastic majors such as Maritime Transportation, Engineering, and Marine Sciences.
Much has changed at Cal Maritime in the past seven years since I left, and the flourishing campus is expanding and modernizing its facilities, as well. Older science and technology buildings made of brick, again, have since been replaced with state-of-the art technology such as computers and electronics enclosed within fresh designed structures of high paneled glass and artistically placed girders and pillars. In addition, this most scenic academy, set on the north end of the San Pablo Bay , is the venue of established or up-and-coming bands and other types of entertainment which, utilize the beach front during the Summer months. This effort is bringing families, neighbors, and business together, among the Vallejo/Napa region.
Last I remember, the once abandoned water front set on Vallejo ’s west end has sprawled into a modern and metropolitan center of commerce for young and old, alike. Once having run down wharfs and bare fields, the City of Vallejo has established ferry boat service and bustling waterfront cafes and other attracting businesses along its well known waterfront just across the once famous Mare Island shipyards.
I feel proud that the region which I called home for four years from 1997-2001 is a continuing Mecca for those who want to break from the usual monotony of busy city life. And for those who are reading this and live close by to Cal Maritime, I envy you.
Nonetheless, have a great day!
-Nadir

Tags: S.S Petersburg, Voyages