Central Currents

On July 11, USNS Catawba, the Desert Cat, recovered a downed Desert Duck helicopter in the northern Persian Gulf. Employing the combined resources of Navy divers out of Bahrain, Catawba was able to recover the 15,000-pound helicopter six days after it went down during a routine flight in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. All seven people aboard were recovered without serious injury when the helicopter crashed. Various Desert Cat crewmembers, including Chief Mate Ken Kerr, Able Seaman Bill Mott, AB Don Sturges, AB Gene Lofton, AB Joe Duncan, Ordinary Seaman Panama Dietz and OS Bill McMaster, received awards for their hard work in the search and salvage effort. Chief Engineer Joe Semon photo

In a July 1 ceremony aboard fleet ocean tug USNS Catawba, the Desert Cat, moored at Mina Sulman, Bahrain, IT1 Efrem F. Williams, USN, stayed in the Navy for three more years. Capt. Patrick Huetter, master of Catawba, re-enlisted Williams who has served aboard Catawba since November 2001. Williams has orders to report to the Pacific Fleet staff at the end of the year.

Large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Watkins, assigned to Afloat Prepositioning Ship Squadron Four, participated in a complete off-load of cargo in Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait. In a mid-July demonstration of capability as well as logistics training for the U.S. Army, Watkins completed a full off-load after working non-stop for approximately 40 hours. This marks what may be the first time a Watson-class LMSR has been to the Persian Gulf to conduct a full off-load of her cargo.

On July 5, MV BBC Chile, a Military Sealift Command-chartered, German-flagged container ship, arrived in Aqaba, Jordan, to load containers of general cargo in support of Department of Defense operations. Taking only three hours to load the containers at the port of Aqaba, the ship quickly moved on to her off-load port of Salalah, Oman. All containers were off-loaded on July 13 in less than an hour, and BBC Chile was released from MSC charter.

MSC-chartered MV Green Dale, a U.S.-flagged commercial roll-on/roll-off ship, delivered Department of Defense cargo from Charleston, S.C., to Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait. The ship arrived the evening of July 12 and off-loaded in about six hours. The next day MV Green Dale was released from MSC charter.

On July 25, 2002, one of MSC Central's finest, Port Engineer Ted Cook, celebrated his 30-year anniversary with MSC. Cook started his MSC career after graduating from the California Maritime Academy in 1972. First employed as a third assistant engineer in MSC Pacific, he quickly made his way up the ranks to become chief engineer by 1981. Cook served aboard various MSC ships and served as port engineer in various ports until reporting to MSC Central in June 2000.

MSC Central said farewell to two officers as they left to return to the United States. Mobilized in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in September 2001, Cmdr. Robert Froncillo, USNR, and Lt. Cmdr. Rudy Chan, USNR, departed July 12 after serving more than nine months at MSC Central in Bahrain.