The Savannah Council of the Navy League is always happy to welcome Navy ships and crews when they come into port.
But even they will concede this one is special.
The USS McFaul was commissioned in Savannah 17 years ago at the request of her first commanding officer, Cmdr. Bernard L. Jackson, a Macon native and graduate of Savannah State College, where he was an officer in the school’s Navy ROTC program.
According to current council president Pat Yovich, the Navy League’s Savannah Council played a significant role in organizing and raising funds for the event, which included a commanding officer’s reception on the riverboat Georgia Queen and a post-ceremony reception at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum.
An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the McFaul is expected in port Monday morning, with the traditional cannon salute from Old Fort Jackson tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. Once the ship is berthed and squared away at Georgia Ports’ Ocean Terminal, the crew will attend Monday afternoon’s Jasper Green Ceremony, an annual St. Patrick’s event commemorating Sgt. William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero of the Siege of Savannah.
On Tuesday, they will march in the parade and, on Wednesday, participate in an Army/Navy softball game and lunch at Hunter Army Air Field.
Thursday will find some of the McFaul’s sailors volunteering to paint houses in the city, while others will visit with youngsters at the West Broad YMCA.
The McFaul will depart Savannah on Friday morning.
Built in Pascagoula, Miss., the 505-foot destroyer is named for Chief Petty Officer Donald L. McFaul, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action Dec. 20, 1989, in Panama during Operation Just Cause, which drove dictator Manuel Noriega from power.
McFaul was killed after leaving the relative safety of his position to carry a seriously wounded platoon member to safety. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.
‘We want your business’
At the Journal of Commerce’s annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference in California last week, Thomas Stokes III, president of Savannah’s International Longshoremen’s Association Local 141, reportedly caused quite a stir when he stood up in the audience and told West Coast shippers “we want your business.”
The Journal of Commerce reported that Stokes, speaking spontaneously from the audience, said Savannah’s longshoremen are proud of their productivity.
He said they remain current on industry developments by attending forums such as TPM, 3,000
miles from their homes, and they educate their youngest dockworkers on the important role they play in the international supply chain.
The JOC noted that Stokes’ declaration came a day after ILA international headquarters in New York confirmed that it is looking at starting contract negotiations with the U.S. Maritime Alliance in the near future, even though it has more than three years remaining on the current contract that governs the East and Gulf Coast ports.
According to the journal, poor productivity and port congestion at West Coast ports have convinced a number of importers that they must look for alternatives, adding that West Coast ports reported double-digit declines in container volumes for January, while East Coast ports were showing double-digit increases.
Independent market research firm IBISWorld Inc. reports retailers and providers of freight-forwarding services have shifted some of their cargo volume to ports on the East Coast, which are near major population centers.
“Additionally,” the report states, “growing ports such as Charleston and Savannah experience little to no labor disruption.”
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.
Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.
TERMINAL VESSEL ETA
GCT MSC LUDOVICA Today
GCT MAERSK KURE Today
GCT CONTI MADRID Today
GCT NYK DAEDALUS Today
GCT NYK ROMULUS Today
GCT MSC JUDITH Today
GCT SEALAND WASHINGTON Today
GCT ZIM PIRAEUS Today
GCT ASIR Today
GCT HS BRUCKNER Today
GCT YORKTOWN EXPRESS Today
GCT MAERSK DETROIT Today
GCT CMA CGM L’ETOILE Today
OT FIDELIO Today
OT SAM HAWK Today
GCT MOL MODERN Saturday
GCT APL OMAN Saturday
GCT MSC LUISA Saturday
GCT BUXWIND Saturday
GCT ARNOLD MAERSK Saturday
GCT CMA CGM SAMSON Saturday
GCT SUEZ CANAL BRIDGE Saturday
OT PALAU Saturday
GCT OOCL SOUTHAMPTON Sunday
GCT FOWAIRET Sunday
GCT CPO CHARLESTON Sunday
GCT ATB FREEPORT Sunday
GCT WELLE Sunday
GCT XIN YANG PU Sunday
GCT HERMA P Sunday
GCT EVER LEGACY Sunday
GCT PORTUGAL Monday
GCT YM OAKLAND Monday
GCT TIANJIN Monday
GCT PANGAL Monday
GCT BOCHEM MUMBAI Monday
GCT ALLISE P Monday
GCT APL BELGIUM Monday
GCT VEGA Monday
OT USS MCFAUL Monday
OT STAR LYSEFJORD Monday
OT VIKING ADVENTURE Monday
GCT CMA CGM FIGARO Tuesday
GCT ZIM SAN DIEGO Tuesday
GCT MSC LISBON Tuesday
GCT MAERSK KLEVEN Tuesday
GCT IBRAHIM DEDE Wednesday
GCT COSCO ADEN Wednesday
GCT XIN HAI KOU Wednesday
GCT MOL ENDURANCE Wednesday
GCT TOKYO EXPRESS Wednesday
GCT OOCL HALIFAX Wednesday
OT OBERON Wednesday
OT THORCO ASIA Wednesday
GCT ISLANDIA Thursday
GCT RHL AGILITAS Thursday
GCT MSC BREMEN Thursday
GCT ZIM HAIFA Thursday
GCT MOL COMPETENCE Thursday
GCT JULIETTE RICKMERS Thursday
OT MORNING CAPO Thursday