Daniel E. Lopez, Seamens House Prospect Park YMCA

I've often said that if I were going to chose my own internship from those offered in the NYHS Program, Seamens House would be the one for me. Of course Danny stepped up and volunteered for the position before I had the chance...darn!

The Seamens House is a nonprofit arm of the YMCA of greater New York whose mission is to support and aid seafarers at port in New York City. During most of the 70-year history of this organization, seafarers from around the world were provided comfortable YMCA housing while on shore leave in NYC. Today, the Seamens House provides permanent housing to many retired seafarers but due to the highly efficient nature of today's ocean cargo system, there is no longer a need for overnight housing.

Today the Seamens House still provides invaluable services to crew members on board large container vessels. These ships now dock in the NY/NJ container terminals usually for no longer than 24 hours. On a typical day, Herb Reiss, director and coordinator of the organization, will travel to meet two or more ships docked in the area. On most Thursdays in the past four months, Danny has been able to accompany Mr. Reiss on his adventures in supporting the seafarers. This past Thursday, I was lucky enough to travel with both of them out to Howland Hook terminal, located on the western shore of Staten Island.

We boarded a relatively "small" ship (see above photos), which was in the process of having its full containers unloaded and empty ones put in place. This particular ship was a German owned vessel with a 22-member crew representing 11 nationalities, the majority of whom were Sri Lankan and Kerabatian (south Pacific island nation). The Captain was British and most of the officers were Sri Lankan. Herb, Danny, and I carried aboard loads of used books, clothing, toiletries, and small individually wrapped Christmas gifts. The crew was extremely appreciative and very interested in what we had to offer. On any given day, Herb will provide these basic services, along with health and exercise classes, and the option for shore transportation if sailors have their visas in order. On this day, several of the ship's officers asked to take a shopping trip for electronic items, so we hopped in the Seamens house minivan and headed over to the Staten Island Mall to visit Circuit City and Best Buy. We spent almost two hours wondering around with three Sri Lankan men who couldn't help but seem like kids in a candy store. Mostly they were interested in laptops, portable hard drives, and DVD's.

After the Mall trip we returned to the vessel hoping to meet the captain and get a tour of the bridge. Unfortunately, the captain was in the middle of his afternoon nap, so Danny and I continued talking with the first mate about the nature of his work. It turns out he is 32 years old, spent six years in the Sri Lankan merchant marine academy and is now preparing to take his Captain's exam. All of the men we met, spoke very highly of the seafarers life and encouraged Danny to pursue such a career. Though container ships may not be his ultimate calling, it was certainly apparent to both of us that it is an enjoyable, adventuresome, and fairly lucrative career. Danny and I both ackowledged that The Harbor School should definitely be preparing students to develop careers in the maritime industries and specifically offer options for students to learn about becoming an international seafarer.

The AFL-CIO's Seafarers International Union has a merchant marine school in Piney Point, Maryland that offers a comprehensive training program and guaranteed career placement. With the support of the Seamens House and others in the industry, The Harbor School could be in an excellent position to build a partnership with this school and begin sending qualified candidates.