MMA captain to speak in Orono

ORONO – Capt. Laurence Wade, master of the Castine-berthed training ship State of Maine, which responded to disaster relief efforts on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, will speak about his experiences at a Brown Bag Lunch Lecture at noon Wednesday, March 1, at the Page Farm and Home Museum, University of Maine.

The public is invited to bring a bag lunch to this free event. Parking permits are available at the museum the day of the lecture or through the visitors center at Buchanan Alumni House.

The State of Maine was deployed Sept. 3 from Maine Maritime Academy to New Orleans where nearly 35,000 meals were served and 7,800 berth nights were provided for relief workers in the 60 days the ship was in the Gulf. The ship returned to Castine Nov. 22.

In addition to serving as master of training on the State of Maine, Wade is an assistant professor in the Marine Transportation Operations Department at MMA, where he teaches navigation and advanced tanker operations. He manages and coordinates upgrades and inspections and is the liaison between MMA and the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration.

He has an extensive background in Coast Guard, government and commercial shipyard modifications and repairs. Wade received a bachelor’s degree from MMA and holds an Oceans Unlimited tonnage master’s license with endorsement as First Class Pilot from the Coast Guard. He also is a captain in the U.S. Maritime Service and a member of the Boston Marine Society, Portland Marine Society, Council of American Master Mariners and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast last fall, there were several maritime-related tasks identified as crucial to the infrastructure of the affected areas, and to the economic recovery of the region. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and port officials identified a need for help in refinery reconstruction, pollution mitigation, spill cleanup, supplies and housing. The State of Maine was one of the ships activated for such support service.

Arriving at the Mississippi River Southwest Pass entrance, Wade and his crew saw the destruction. In the lower reaches of the Mississippi River delta, the usual herds of grazing cattle were missing, oil tanks were literally floated, crushed and toppled, and houses and docks were trampled, he said.

In the lower Mississippi cities of Empire, Venice and Pilot Town, most of the governing infrastructure and city support suffered enormously, according to Wade. Football fields were under water and boats were in the bleachers. Wade recalls looking through schools with their walls gone. Upriver were masses of barges, boats, ferries and debris deposited in the trees and on top of the levees, and each other. Even dry docks with tugs still on board were displaced and deposited on the levees, he said.

At Seventh Street Wharf, the ship’s crew prepared housing for workers helping to get the port back to an operational status. Without the State of Maine, workers faced living in tents in a parking lot.

“Hot showers, air conditioning, pleasant surroundings, and above all our reputation for outstanding food meant that our ship and accommodations were a focal point for many folks,” he said.

Having worked with homeless persons and with many government and private agencies providing disaster relief, Wade came away with this perception: “Seamen are trained and practiced … to react to the ever-changing nature of the sea, their ships, their cargo and the situations around them. This makes them ideally suited to dealing with the unknowns that arise in the arena of disaster relief.”