MMA Training Ship Arrives in Sicily
R C Parke
MMA Training Ship Arrives in Sicily
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Maine Maritime Academy's (MMA) training ship, State of Maine, arrived
earlier today in Palermo, Sicily, a port-of-call not originally on the
itinerary of the college's annual two-month training cruise. The
rescheduled port visit was necessitated by the ship's 3-day diversion
to Siracusa, Sicily, due to an onboard medical emergency experienced
by the ship's master, Captain Laurence Wade. Wade was hospitalized for
additional medical care at a local facility.
According to Captain Jeff Loustaunau, MMA's commandant of midshipmen,
the remainder of the itinerary of the training cruise remains
unaffected by the substitution of the port of Palermo for a previously
scheduled visit in Odessa, Ukraine. While at anchor in the port of
Siracusa, shipboard officials determined that it would not be
practical or possible to complete the transit to the port of Odessa
given the need for ship staff to accompany Captain Wade. The ship
remained at anchor until Tuesday evening, May 29, when the family of
Captain Wade arrived and assumed direct oversight of his care. During
this time, shipboard staff was able to rapidly secure alternate port-
of-call arrangements at the nearby port of Palermo, Sicily, located on
the west coast of the island. The ship will remain in Palermo until
Sunday, June 3. Loustaunau also added that Captain Wade's emergent
medical crisis was an unexpected personal health event that did not
have implications for impacting the health of others aboard the
vessel. This was confirmed by a preliminary and subsequent diagnosis
by the ship's onboard physician and Italian doctors. The diversion did
not impact the amount of required at-sea experience obtained by the
students participating in the training cruise. The vessel remained on
cruise status and daily duties and instruction continued as part of
the unexpected delay. The ship is currently under the command of the
former chief mate of the vessel, Captain Brendan McAvoy. The Southern
European port of Split, Croatia, located on the Adriatic Sea will be
the final port of call in the Mediterranean Basin. The ship is
expected to dock in Split on June 8. Following a trans-Atlantic
crossing, the ship will call in the Canadian port of Halifax, Nova
Scotia, June 24-27, and will make a brief stop in Rockland, Maine, for
a family day sail on the return leg to Castine.
Maritimelinks.net {Moderator}
hear news about the training ship. Captain Wade was an older gent when
I was in school and I can only imagine that he is coming to the end of
his career at sea with this event. It is hard to get medical care out
at sea and seeing as this was probably either a heart attack or stroke
given his age. I am surprised that they did not say what the condition
was, but it is nice that they are respecting his privacy.
The Coast Guard is getting hard on people for medical conditions. I
experienced this in my career and I am sure Captain Wade will have to
deal with this sad fact of life when he returns to work. I will have
to start a separate discussion on here for medical requirements for
sailors. They are getting pretty restrictive and it is going to be
very hard to attract enough people who are healthy and willing to put
up with all of the new rules and regs like the TWIC cards and
STCW...Hopeully Larry Wade will make a full recovery and be able to
resume some of his duties at the school.
Casey
Editor- MaritimeLinks.net
http://www.maritimelinks.net
Waylander
Maritimelinks.net {Moderator}
Wade Family Establishes Web Site
The family of Captain Larry Wade has established a web site through
CaringBridge® (www.caringbridge.org), a free, nonprofit web service
that connects family and friends to share information, love and
support during a health crisis, treatment, and recovery. The family
has requested that Maine Maritime Academy share the address of their
site with the community.
Family authors wrote in their introduction on the site: "This website
has been created to help keep our friends and family informed about
our Dad's progress. Be sure to read the latest in the journal, view
the photo gallery, and drop us a line in the guestbook. As soon as we
can, we will read guest book entries to him, and know that everyone's
thoughts and prayers will help him on his road to recovery."
Friends are invited to visit the CaringBridge® web site for Captain
Larry
Wade at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/larrywade
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I went in and posted a brief message for Captain Wade. Looks like the
site has gotten a lot of responses so far.
Angry!
him? While I did not always agree with how Wade handled the students
or his classes, I always respected him. Here was a guy that had gone
out into the industry and done it. He had sailed commercially for a
long time and knew how to run a tanker without a doubt. Unfortunately,
the ship's crew that remains does not have the experiance or patience
of Wade. I hope MMA goes out and finds an old salty captain to take
his place.
On Jun 1, 8:56 pm, "Maritimelinks.net {Moderator}"