Thursday, 21 January 1999
As of 0800 this morning, the Empire State was located at 16 degrees 15 minutes North latitude, 061 degrees 53 minutes West longitude. That puts her approximately 5 nautical miles west of the island of Guadaloupe. She is heading 170 degrees true (SSE), doing 12 knots. The depth of water under the keel is 2,820 feet. The weather at her position is clear, wind out of the East @ 6 kts, sea state 1(1 foot), air temp 77 degrees F, water temp 82 degrees F. Barometric pressure 1017 millibars.
CAPTAIN'S LOG:
Another day in paradise. The weather today is exceptional. As we steam past the islands of Monserratt and Guadaloupe we find many small vessels out fishing. Dodging them occupies a major part of the training on the Bridge, particularly at night. Their tiny lights can be hard to see and the small wooden boats don't show up well on our radar. It does manage to keep everyone on watch alert, awake and occupied. On the other end of the spectrum, last evening we observed five cruise ships - white behemoths that resemble moving hotels more than ships. We are in their playground now. The passenger vessel industry today is unbelievable and no American seaman can look at it without a twinge of regret. At last count, there were over thirty large tonnage passenger vessels coming out of the Florida ports of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Cape Canaveral every week. Their voyages last from as little as eight hours to the full one week vacation. They mainly ply the waters of the greater Antilles, where we were yesterday.
The passengers come from around the world but 85 percent are Americans, flying into Florida airports from every state. The sheer numbers of passengers is amazing and the amount of revenue generated through airlines, hotels, service industries, tickets and port dues is in the billions. Some of that money goes to American companies like Carnival Cruise Lines, but basically none of it goes to American seamen. Almost all of the Cruise Ships that work out of Florida are staffed by foreign officers and seamen. The laws of America (the Jones Act) prohibit at this time, the use of these ships to travel and trade between two US ports - but a change to that law is pending before our Congress as I write.