Fr. Tony Haycock and the Tug that Couldn’t Go
In November 2011, the Catholic Seafarers’ Center of Seattle, WAgot word that a Tug was at Pier 91 behind a locked fence with the crew still on board. Some of the crew members had just been flown in from Nicaragua and Honduras and none of the crew had visas to allow them to go ashore.
The owner had bought the old Tug, which at one point, had beentied up many years on Lake Unionby a Tug company.He had some work done on the engine but his captain and chief engineer said they wouldn’t risk sailing the Tug. The Coastguard was aware of the problem and stated that the Tug was not seaworthy. It seemed more work was needed which was eventually carried out by the engineers onboard. Subsequently, I spent the next few weeks shopping for the Captain and crew.
The crew named me their “Salvador.” They had not been paid for two weeks and as a result, some of the crew decided to go home. I took the captain and chief engineer and one other crew member straight to Customs and Immigration to retrieve their passports which had been confiscated. This was with the promise to take them straight to SEA-TAC Airport and give them the flight ticketstheir wives had purchased and sent through the Seafarers’ Center.
Meanwhile, staff at the Seafarers’ Center were still looking after the other four seafarers onboard with food and drinks to supplement the meager rations of the Tug owner. A new captain was onboard, he was a diabetic and needed insulin daily. I was able to get a doctor’s certificate for him and the needles and blood pressure monitor which he used twice a day.
On Christmas Day I celebrated Mass onboard with the crew andblessed the Tug. The cook had provided a fine meal and I brought a large dessert cake and Christmas gifts for each of the crew. The new captain was grateful for the new G.P.S. I brought him and wool hats and pullovers for the crew. We even sang some Spanish songs with them!
It was the New Year before the owner had the funds and the paperwork to get the Tug to Mexico. The Coastguard gave a waiver to leave. The crew had been confined onboard on a small, restricted dock for five weeks. I walked with the owner to the end of Pier 91 to wave goodbye as the Tug steamed past with blue and black smoke pumping and the crew waving.
The crew called me from Mexico. Most of them were flying home from there as they were paid a portion of what they were owed! Another promise of a seafaring job which the seafarers grabbed for their families back home but which never fulfilled the hopes they had.
Fr. Tony Haycock is Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) chaplain since 1992 for the Archdiocese of Seattle. For more information about the Catholic Seafarers’ Center, please visit: