For one afternoon in late May each year, a small part of River Street is framed by soaring arcs of water from the fire hoses of Moran and Crescent tugboats and punctuated by peals from a World War II ship’s bell while an honor guard from Benedictine Military School stands at attention and names are called out one by one.
It’s all part of a springtime ritual as members of the Propeller Club of Savannah gather at the S.S. Savannah monument by the Barnard Street ramp to commemorate National Maritime Day.
They lay a wreath in honor of all mariners lost at sea and remember members of the area maritime community who have died in the last year.
This year, the bell tolled for Edward Wayne Bazemore, Vickie Brown, Larry Faircloth, Loreta S. Forbes Felix, Ben Grady Fields Jr., Bruce Ford, Bette Jennings, Betty King, Albert Marcantonio, Garfield Orr, Chuck Parkinson and Jack Sayler.
Propeller Club past president Jerry Hogan served as master of ceremonies as past president Anna Arnsdorff rang the bell and Dudley New Jr. laid the wreath in the river.
A moment of silence and the retiring of the colors concluded the solemn part of the ceremony, after which the group followed bagpiper Heather Haskell down River Street to the Hyatt Regency Savannah for a reception and the presentation of the club’s annual awards.
President Mark Troughton presented the Maritime Person of the Year to Dave “Fish” Mihuta, president and co-founder of the Maritime Logistics Education Taskforce.
Bob Cole, club treasurer, was named the Propeller Club Person of the Year.
Past president Chris Desa presented Propeller Club Scholarships to Davis Remier and Steven Tilton, a senior and sophomore, respectively, at the State University of New York’s Maritime Academy.
New officers for 2015-2016 are Michael Forbes, president; Craig Maggioni, 1st vice president; Ralph Maggioni, 2nd vice president; Chuck Heimes, 3rd vice president; Tom Wright, secretary; and Bob Cole, treasurer.
Savannah’s Propeller Club is comprised of more than 260 individuals representing more than 120 organizations in the Savannah maritime community.
Representatives of the club also laid a wreath at the Sailors’ Burial Ground in Laurel Grove Cemetery on Sunday.
Georgia Tech professor to discuss logistics issues
Benoit Montreuil, Coca-Cola Material Handling & Distribution Chairman in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, will be in town next week to talk about sustaining Savannah’s long-term logistics leadership.
Participants in the breakfast lecture will learn about the Physical Internet Initiative, an emerging long-term solution to achieving a more sustainable global supply chain aimed at transforming the way physical objects are moved, stored, realized, supplied and used.
The event will be from 8-9:30 a.m. Thursday at Georgia Tech Savannah, 210 Technology Circle in Crossroads Business Park. The cost is $15, which includes breakfast. Register at https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/learning-series-physical-internet.
West Coast contract ratified
Last week, representatives from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union agreed to ratify a new labor contract with the Pacific Maritime Association, officially ending what has turned into nearly a year of uncertainty and disagreement. Conditions of the new contract, which offers an improved arbitration process and streamlined healthcare benefits, will be retroactive to July 1, 2014, and continue through June 30, 2019.
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 MAERSK DETROIT Today
GCT BEATRICE Today
GCT ZIM LONDON Today
GCT MAERSK WINNIPEG Today
GCT MOL MODERN Today
GCT MSC INGRID Today
OT FALSTAFF Today
GCT COSCO ADEN Saturday
GCT CLASSICA Saturday
GCT ADRIAN MAERSK Saturday
GCT GIACINTA Saturday
GCT AL FARAHIDI Saturday
GCT SUEZ CANAL BRIDGE Saturday
GCT KOBE EXPRESS Saturday
OT TONSBERG Saturday
GCT EVER LEGACY Sunday
GCT MSC MARIA ELENA Sunday
GCT OOCL SOUTHAMPTON Sunday
OT CORESHIP OL Sunday
GCT APL BELGIUM Monday
GCT NORTHERN PROMOTION Monday
GCT HAMMONIA POMERENIA Monday
GCT OOCL HALIFAX Monday
GCT MAERSK KENSINGTON Monday
GCT CMA CGM FAUST Monday
GCT DEIRA Monday
GCT ZIM ALABAMA Tuesday
GCT SINGAPORE EXPRESS Tuesday
GCT YM EMINENCE Tuesday
GCT MOL ENDURANCE Tuesday
GCT AL HILAL Tuesday
GCT HANJIN GDYNIA Tuesday
GCT COLETTE Wednesday
GCT ARIAN Wednesday
GCT MARGRIT RICKMERS Wednesday
GCT MSC FLAMINIA Wednesday
GCT NYK RIGEL Thursday
GCT MSC DONATA Thursday
GCT MOL MISSION Thursday
GCT OCTAVIA Thursday
OT FIDELIO Thursday