An Opportunity for St. Peter's to
'Adopt-A-Crew'

A Collaboration between the Seamen's Church &
St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley

Through the auspices of the Seamen's Church, St. Peter's parishioners have made several visits to international vessels in the past two years as they visit Philadelphia to load or unload cargo. We have met and offered friendship to crews from many nations.

A general cargo vessel may visit Philadelphia only infrequently, or as someone described it, like a Federal Express truck of the sea. The opportunity to maintain a sustained relationship with crews on these vessels is very difficult.

Refrigerated cargo ships (called  reefers) traveling in and out of the Port of Philadelphia provide more promising opportunities, however. The Port of Philadelphia has become one of the world's largest distribution centers for refrigerated imports, especially fruit from Central and South America. Fleets of reefers routinely travel from the produce docks of South America and the Caribbean, up the U.S. Atlantic coast and into the Delaware River to Philadelphia, carrying an array of fresh fruits and vegetables. A round trip from Philadelphia to ports in the southwest Caribbean requires two weeks, while the roundtrip circuit between Philadelphia and Valparaiso, Chile, through the Panama Canal, requires a full month.

Our Seamen's Church coordinator Lloyd Reynolds  asked the leadership at Seamen's Church for their assistance in contacting captains of reefer ships who may be willing to allow St. Peter's parishioners to establish an on-going relationship with his ship and its crew. Such permissions would enable our parishioners to regularly visit a crew when it docks in Philadelphia, and share Christ's love through kindnesses, help, and good fellowship. And, in our "post 9-11" world, Federal port security arrangements to allow routine parishioner visits to the same ship can be more easily accomplished than random ship visits.

From this search we found two sister ships of the Star Reefer Line, the Southampton Star and the Solent Star, that routinely call on the Port of Philadelphia .

Pictured above is the 9,709 ton refrigerated cargo liner  M/V Southampton Star. In its holds the ship transports pineapples and bananas from Columbia and Costa Rica to the Port of Philadelphia. The ship, commanded by veteran Captain Peter Fonseca, is currently manned by some 20 officers and crew whose nations of origin are India or the Philippians.

The Southampton Star, and its sister ship Solent Star, berth at Penn Terminal located near Chester, PA, on alternate weeks throughout the year. Each ship normally arrives on a Sunday or Monday and, after an expedited unloading, sails back to the southwest Caribbean the following day. The actual day and time of arrival is of course influenced by weather conditions across the route of travel.

Large cargo ships are similar to land-based industrial facilities in that union wage scales encourage vessels to be unloaded during 'normal' working hours if at all possible. Shipboard visits are generally undesirable while unloading operations are underway, and a stevedore's day-shift usually ends around 5:00 p.m. Therefore, ship visits are best accomplished between 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Our First Visit to the Southampton Star:
On Monday evening, August 15, 2005, a group of six St. Peter's parishioners were met outside the secured perimeter of Penn Terminal by our Seamen's Church coordinator John Szelagowski. Our group, consisting of Peter and Shirley Norton, Tom and Pam Nelson, Lloyd Reynolds and Roger Thorne, loaded into the van driven by John for the ride through security and out to Pier 82 and the Southampton Star.

We were cordially met and welcomed by the ship's Chief Mate, Julius Valladares, a man with almost 30 years of maritime experience around the world. Julius led us aboard, where we were escorted to a spacious dining area where those of our group that had brought homemade pies and other 'goodies' could set them up for the enjoyment of the crew.

Within moments we were in turn welcomed by other members of the crew bringing plates of sandwiches, chips and soft drinks. I assure you that no one left the table hungry.

Julius articulated so well to our group the operation of the refrigerated fruit trade, and the busy, lonely and sometimes dangerous life of a seafarer. He explained that the Southampton Star is leased by Banacol, a large grower, shipper and marketer of bananas and other tropical fruit. From Philadelphia, the ship heads across the Caribbean to take on fruit in Turbo, Columbia, Moín/Puerto Limón, Costa Rica, and then back down again to Santa Marta, Columbia before heading back north to Philadelphia. This roundtrip takes two weeks. There is little time to leave the ship while in port.

Midway into our visit we were joined by Captain Fonseca, a graduate of the Indian Maritime Academy and a veteran of 21 years at sea. We learned that his home is in Bombay, and he is also a parishioner of St. Peter's Church.

Captain Fonseca and C/Mate Valladares, along with other members of the crew who were drawn into our discussion, contributed specific ideas on how our parish church, and its volunteers, could provide Christian help and companionship to the crew of this ship when they are in Philadelphia. Those ideas are being researched, so stay tuned for much more on this.

Click on the thumbnails below to gain a better idea of what this opportunity for service is about:

A beautiful sunset down the Delaware River as we boarded the Southampton Star	A view forward on the Southampton Star	Messman Gilbert Aligan brings out a plate of sandwiches to compliment the fresh pies
John Szelagowski, Seamen's Church's very efficient ship visit coordinator	Chief Mate Julius Valladares (center) offers hospitality to both crew members and the St. Peter's group	Captain Peter Fonseca, captain of the Southampton Star
Julius kindly offers more food to a member of his crew, and to group member Pam Nelson	Shirley Norton listens in to the conversation between Captain Fonseca and group leader Lloyd Reynolds	The St. Peter's group was made to feel very welcome indeed by the crew of the Southampton Star

Lloyd Reynolds is planning our next visit to the Southampton Star . Please contact Lloyd or Tom Nelson if you would be interested in joining the next visit, and stay tuned for more details.

Another view of the Southampton Star heading out to sea.