Page 22: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2006)

burst into flames, blanked to the right and crashed into the stern on the star- board side killing 23 of Sigsbee's crew. "A dull heavy explosion occurred, clouds of black and white smoke, accompanied the concussion..." The

Zeke bomb must have detonated in the water when the plane crashed, blown off 16 ft. of Sigsbee's stern , deck platings peeled up forward just aft of the No. 5 5-in. gun mount. Steering control was lost. It was thanks to the ship's damage control groups that we saved her." (Figure 3) Sigsbee lost 23 shipmates that day and 68 others were injured. Of the 23 who were lost, only four bodies were recovered to be buried at sea the next day. Sigsbee survived that battle, was towed back to port, a new stern sec- tion was welded in place and Sigsbee was ready for more action. World War II ended before she could re-enter the bat- tle.

With the end of the war, most of the crew returned to their civilian lives while a few remained on active duty. All were touched by their shared experi- ences. A few friendships were main- tained, but most went their separate ways. Many years later those remaining friendships developed into an associa- tion and the Sigsbee sailors began gath- ering for reunions. When the Secretary of the Navy, Richard Danzig, announced that a new AEGIS Guided Missile

Destroyer (DDG 93) would be named

Chung-Hoon to honor their former skip- per and shipmate, new life was added to these aging sea warriors.

Plans to attend the Chung-Hoon chris- tening ceremony in Pascagoula, Miss., and commissioning at Pearl Harbor developed quickly. The state of Hawaii and the local people all made the com- missioning a memorable occasion hon- oring one of their own local heroes of the war. The commissioning on

September 18, 2004 with USS Chung-

Hoon tied up to the wharf at Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor gave all a chance to recognize the young sea war- riors of the Chung-Hoon, their predeces- sors from Sigsbee and the Chung-Hoon family.

Congress still not satisfied

Influential members of Congress are well aware of the efforts of CBP to enhance C-TPAT. While supportive, they do not view these efforts as suffi- cient. Legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House of

Representatives that will, if enacted, ratchet the process up even further.

In the Senate, the GreenLane

Maritime Cargo Security Act (S. 2459) has been introduced by Senators Collins (R-ME) and Murray (D-WA). This bill would convert C-TPAT to a statutory program, with three levels of participa- tion. The lowest (or tier one) level, with minimal requirements and self-certifica- tion, would provide minimal benefits.

The tier two level, requiring CBP verifi- cation, would provide defined benefits, including reduced searches, priority pro- cessing for searches when undertaken, and reduced scores in the CBP

Automated Targeting System. The third tier - denominated as the GreenLane - would provide additional benefits to val- idated C-TPAT participants that demon- strate a sustained commitment beyond the minimum requirements. GreenLane participants would be entitled to: (1) expedited release of GreenLane cargo into destination ports within the US dur- ing all threat levels; (2) reduced or elim- inated bonding requirements for

GreenLane cargo; (3) preference to

GreenLane vessels; (4) a further reduc- tion in CBP searches; (5) priority pro- cessing for searches; (6) further reduced scores in the Automated Targeting

System; and (7) streamlined billing of any customs duties or fees.

In the House of Representatives, the

Security and Accountability for Every

Port Act or SAFE Port Act (H.R. 4954) has been introduced by Representatives

Lungren (R-CA) and Harman (D-CA).

This bill is largely similar to its Senate counterpart. While the House bill is not as detailed as the Senate bill with regard to the C-TPAT program, its overall goal of enhancing and regularizing the pro- gram by directing establishment of clear standards and defined benefits is the same. The Senate and House bills are long overdue, but now appear to be on the fast-track to adoption. The missing elements, which these bills can not fill, are funding and regulatory standards for secure containers and container seals.

The Department of Homeland Security and numerous others have been working to develop and implement container and container seal standards, but hurdles still remain. Funding will continue to be a problem until the appropriators recog- nize that the cost of prevention is far, far less than the cost of reconstruction fol- lowing a terrorist incident.

Salt-Away Products, Inc. • 1533 East McFadden Avenue, Suite B • Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 550-0987 • Fax: (714) 550-7787 • Toll Free: 888- SALT-AWAY (725-8292) e-mail: [email protected] • www.saltawayproducts.com

Circle 259 on Reader Service Card

Government Update

VT Shipbuilding Delivers

HMS Daring Foremast

VT Shipbuilding completed its con- struction work on the Royal Navy's first-of-class Type 45 destroyer HMS

Daring with delivery of the foremast to

BAE Systems Naval Ships in

Glasgow. The 89-tons steel structure was lifted onto a barge at VT's

Portsmouth Shipbuilding Facility and towed more than 600 nautical miles by tug. After four days in transit, the foremast was transferred directly to HMS Daring where fitting out will be completed. The major element of the foremast is to house the Sampson multi-function radar suite, which will be linked to the ship's Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS).

VT has already installed some 12,000 m of cable inside the 19 m high mast, with 800 different cables and 400 pipes included in the structure. 22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

The HMS Daring foremast is loaded onto a barge. (Continued from page 19)

Figure 3

MR MAY2006 #3 (17-24).qxd 5/9/2006 7:40 PM Page 22