ILA agrees to unload ship from Liberia - Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor | Dec 12, 2014 6:32PM EST The International Longshoremen’s Association agreed to unload military cargo from a ship returning to Beaumont, Texas, from Ebola-stricken Liberia after federal officials certified that the vessel posed no health risk. The Cape Rise, a roll-on, roll-off ship operated by the Military Sealift Command for the U.S. Transportation Command, is expected to dock at Beaumont to unload Army helicopters and containers early next week. The ship’s routine backhaul voyage from Liberia caused a brief kerfuffle when the ILA questioned whether the ship, originally expected to arrive this weekend, was safe to work so soon after its Nov. 30 departure from Liberia. The ILA’s military consultant, retired Army Major Gen. Patrick Kelly, noted Pentagon guidelines for a 21-day waiting period for military personnel returning from duty in the Ebola zone. He said the union was concerned for the safety of its members and the public. At one point the military considered diverting the ship to Jacksonville, Florida, where another sealift command vessel, the Cape Wrath, was unloaded last weekend by a non-ILA stevedore that has a contract with the military. The Cape Wrath and Cape Rise were dispatched to Liberia in early November with military relief equipment and supplies. Both ships were sent back to their origin ports -- the Cape Wrath to Jacksonville, and the Cape Rise to Beaumont -- to discharge cargo that remained aboard ship in Liberia. Representatives of the Coast Guard, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Customs and Border Protection, the Defense Department,other federal agencies, and state and local health officials conferred on Friday afternoon and said the ship posed no health risk. “They all agreed that the ship is fine,” said Kavanaugh Breazeale, spokesman for the Army’s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. Breazeale said the cargo in question never left the ship in Liberia, that no cargo was stowed on the ship on its West Africa call, that no crew members left or went aboard the ship there, and that the harbor pilot who boarded the ship in Liberia was outfitted in full protective gear. With those assurances, the ILA agreed to discharge the cargo when the ship reaches Beaumont. “If the agencies are comfortable that it’s safe, we will work the ship,” said Benny Holland, the ILA’s Texas-based executive vice president. Kelly said the ILA wanted to ensure the safety of its members and the public. He said the union received the assurance it sought, “thanks to a lot of cooperation and consultation during the last couple of days. I don’t think this would have happened if we hadn’t raised a ruckus.”
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 05:46:37 +0000
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