AMOSUP, MAAP cited on cooperation to provide crew for Red Cross vessel
Philippine Red Cross (PRC) chairman Sen. Richard J. Gordon hailed the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) and the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) for agreeing to provide needed crew and technical support for PRC’s newlyacquired humanitarian-tasked vessel “MV Susitna.”
The AMOSUP-ran MAAP, the leading maritime institution in the Philippines and in the Asia-Pacific region, turns out well-disciplined, hard working cadets and midshipmen-turned professional and quality deck and engine officers, most of whom deployed aboard foreign ships. MAAP is headed by maritime educator VAdm Eduardo Ma. R. Santos AFP (ret.), former flagofficer-in-command of the Philippine Navy and AFP vice chief of staff.
The “MV Susitna,” a catamaran ferry, is a 195-foot long military proto ship, with a 135-ton type “overall freight capacity,” which can load up to 129 passengers, and 20 vehicles, and will be used for emergency, life-saving, relief and rescue operations, and other related humanitarian missions.
Santos and Gordon recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) where MAAP committed to provide the needed officers and crew to the ship, and recommend maintenance and technical assistance for repair. Under the accord, the Academy is authorized to recommend and select candidates for two sets of crewmen for the vessel, so that replacement can be obtained in case of resignations from work on board.
Under the said MOA, the PRC as the ship owner, determines as to where and when to deploy the vessel, and undertakes to provide allowances for the crew during relief or emergency operations, though “it may” have the option to hire on “full time” basis for the crew that MAAP will provide and be entitled to PRC’s regular employee compensation.
The “MV Sutsina” was acquired by PRC through “purchase” for $1.75 million. It has a main deck that can be lowered to offload equipment and can land on beaches in as little as “four feet of water.” It brings its humanitarian service to new heights with the use of a rapid transport and a landing craft for relief supply and medical facility deployment. It will also serve as a rescue vessel and command post for mobile operations in marine disasters, and natural calamities. The vessel was built for the US Navy at the Ketchikan Shipyards and was donated to Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Anchorage, Alaska after the Navy was finished with it.
In a statement Gordon said: “The PRC really needs a ship as the Philippines is an archipelagic country, that is visited by around 22 to 26 typhoons a year; with an average of 170 maritime accidents also every year, apart from being prone to earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and man-made disasters.