by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Bringing a cargo ship into port is very much a team effort and like a good story, there’s also a beginning, a middle and an end.
In the tug boat industry, the story starts at the dock, gets good in the middle of the river and winds up with another successful docking.
The biggest tug boat operating company in town is Moran Towing of Florida. A division of Moran Towing Corporation, the company owns five tugs in the Jacksonville and Fernandina area and over 100 total in 15 ports on the East Coast. It’s run locally by operations manager Gregory Zeligman, a licensed tug boat captain himself who still likes to spend time on the water and behind the wheel — which is now a joy stick.
“I drive frequently,” he said.
At Moran, the captain and his crew work a schedule that’s one week on, one week off.
Bob Milam has been the captain of the John Turecamo for two-and-a-half years. He’s former Navy and enjoys his job tremendously.
“I love it. It’s the best job in the world,” he said. “I grew up on the water in Miami and saw the tugs. I would have done this in the Navy, but they got away from it. I am blessed to be able to do this in the civilian world. It’s a dream job and I am lucky.”
Milam has a 2 year-old and a second on the way. He says the hard part of the job is being away from his family. The good part — both he and Zeligman say — is when you are off, you are off.
In addition to Milam, the process of nestling a 600-foot cargo ship against a dock with a barely noticeable bump takes many others and starts far from Talleyrand.
Before Milam and his crew leave the dock, Doug Menefee, director of Talleyrand Marine Terminal Operations for the Jacksonville Port Authority, makes sure the dock is clear and the cranes used to offload cargo are ready. He also coordinates with the shipping company to assure there are personnel on hand to unload the ship.
Menefee said the cargo ships are first met three miles into the Atlantic Ocean at a sea buoy that’s straight out from the mouth of the St. Johns River. The ships are then guided to just before the Trout River and handed off to another tug or two.
“A docking pilot goes on board and works with the tug company to help push the ship to the dock,” said Menefee, who has been with the Port Authority for 18 years.
Milam eventually gets his tug close enough to the cargo ship to tie the two ships together. Then, the steady, methodical process of pushing the ship to the dock begins. Several minutes later, the ship is docked, inspected by a U.S Customs agent and the unloading begins.
For Milam and his crew, it’s off to get another ship. The job is 24 hours a day, which means Milam and his crew live on the tug for a week at a time. In order to make things comfortable the tug is equipped with a functioning kitchen, washer and dryer and sleeping quarters. Milam has a TV, DVD player, an X-Box, surround sound and a top-of-the-line mattress.
The job pays well too, and Zeligman says the benefits are so good the company hasn’t had anyone leave in about two years.
“The pay is very honest and it’s probably one of the most honest days work you can do,” he said. “It’s not easy being away from home. We get a lot of brothers, but not many fathers and sons. We get a lot from the military.”
356-2466