Pictured above is the 9,709 ton
refrigerated cargo ship M/V Southampton Star (commonly called
a reefer). The ship
is leased by
Banacol, a large grower, shipper and
marketer of bananas and other tropical fruit. The ship, commanded by veteran
Captain Chakraborty and First Officer Betito, is currently manned by 19 other crew
members whose nation of origin is the Philippines.
The Southampton Star,and its sister ship Solent Star, berth at
Penn Terminal in Chester, PA, on alternate weeks throughout the
year. Either 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. From Philadelphia the ship heads down the Delaware River
into the Atlantic, and southwest across the Caribbean to
take on pineapples and bananas in Turbo, Columbia,
Moín/Puerto Limón, Costa Rica, and then
back to
Santa Marta, Columbia before retracing
the journey north to Philadelphia. This roundtrip takes two weeks. There is
little time to leave the ship while in port, and a seaman's life is one of
loneliness, and occasionally danger, during the long months at sea.
Our
'Thanksgiving' Visit to the Southampton Star:
From left to right, Jojo Paler,
Ordinary Seaman, Benito (Ben) Germano, Chief Cook, and Gilbert Aligan, Messman,
enjoy a traditional
American Thanksgiving meal in a decidedly international
setting.
Parishioners of St. Peter's Church
in the Great Valley wanted to share Christian kindness with the crew members
of the Southampton Star when it berthed at Pier 82, Penn
Terminal, in Chester, PA. Despite weather conflicts and rescheduling, these
parishioners hosted a traditional, if belated, Thanksgiving dinner on Monday
evening, December 5th. St. Peter's parishioner
Tom Nelson arranged this tremendous
effort, along with Seamen's Church (SCI) coordinator John Szelagowski. Working
directly with Southampton Star's Captain Chakraborty and Chief
Mate Betita, Tom coordinated with literally dozens of parishioners to arrange
deliveries of all the components of this Thanksgiving feast for the crew, plus
6 St. Peter's members who delivered the meal and joined the crew for dinner.
The Southampton Star
had berthed in Chester early on December 5th, completing the final portion
of its journey up the Delaware River from the Atlantic around 6:00 a.m.
Longshoremen descended on the ship to unload the fresh fruit from the holds,
reload general cargo, and have the ship ready for departure 31 hours later at
1:00 p.m. on the 6th.
All morning, and into the early afternoon of the 5th, cars would shuttle up
St. Peter’s hill bearing great quantities of food and sparkling apple cider.
The result would create a tasty Thanksgiving meal, with all the trimmings, for
this international crew, many of whom had never experienced this array of
traditional American dishes. Tom coordinated keeping the warm and cold dishes
in their respective states, as well as gathering all the accoutrements of a
smoothly presented feast. He succeeded admirably!
A mid-afternoon convoy departed St. Peter’s for Penn Terminal with the
banquet, and those that would serve it. They included Tom & Pam Nelson, Lloyd
and & Lee Reynolds, Maggie Potocnik, and Roger Thorne (Kelly Bunting provided
transportation, but was unable to attend the dinner). After transferring the
feast from our several vehicles into a large SCI van, and passing through the
rigorous Penn Terminal security, our group was escorted to the ship. Several
crew members waited in the freezing night to help carry the meal up the narrow
and slippery gangway into the warm officer's mess compartment where the
banquet would be set.
The tables were set with red table cloths, gourds, corn and candles, while the
group reheated and arranged the food for serving. At about 7:00 p.m., an
announcement over the ship's P.A. called all crew members not on duty to
report to the mess area for the start of the dinner. Lloyd Reynolds gave a
brief history lesson on our Thanksgiving celebration, expressed the Christian
love of our entire parish for this crew, and led us in a prayer before the
meal. Then the meal begin! Everyone filed through the galley to load their
plates with delicious turkey, stuffing, gravy, beans, sweet potatoes and rice.
The officers, crew and visitors enjoyed food, fellowship and conversation.
Pies (pumpkin, pecan and apple), pumpkin bread, and Clementine oranges topped
off our meal. John Szelagowski presented Captain Chakraborty with a miniature
ship made of gourmet chocolate.
The Southampton Star is like a small city, and one man’s dinner
time is another’s work shift. So, while Captain Chakraborty, Chief Mate Betita,
and about one-half of the crew joined us for dinner, at least 8 other crew
members were busy refueling the ship for the next day’s departure, or
attending to other duties. They would get their Thanksgiving dinner later in
the evening, and fortunately, there was plenty food for all.
As the meal was ‘winding down’, Roger Thorne recalled to the crew that, in an
earlier visit , they had told him that, other than their families, the thing
they missed the most was news from the Philippians. To partially satisfy this
need, Thorne presented the crew with a CD containing 20 pages of that
morning’s
Manila Bulletin which they can print
and read at their leisure. As St. Peter's volunteers return to the ship for
regular visits, we will continue this practice of bringing news from home.
A special thanks to Tom Nelson who coordinated the
event, for everyone who prepared food,
for Peter and Sue Gilmore who were so helpful with advice and
food preparation, and for all who contributed in making this feast a great
memory for this crew for whom we at St. Peter’s are growing very fond.
.jpg "Maggie Potocnik and Lee & Lloyd Reynolds help the crew bring the dinner aboard the Southampton Star.")
.jpg "Equal amounts of supplies and smiles.")
.jpg "Lee Reynolds leads the way aboard.")
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