MV President Kennedy   14 Sep 89 - 19 Oct 89

MV President Polk 31 Dec 89 - 7 Feb 90

MV President Adams 25 Apr 90 - 4 Jul 90

Taiwan       Japan        HongKong          Korea  

The 45 day voyage cycle would begin in Oakland. The ship would depart Oakland and sail great circle to Japan via the Aleutians and the Bering Sea. The trip from Oakland to Yokohama would take 9 days. After about 12 hours in Yokohama it was off to Kobe for approx. 18 hours then to Hong Kong for 48-60 hours (over a weekend), then on to Kaoshiung, Taiwan for a 2 day stay then on to San Pedro, CA (Los Angeles). After the discharge/load at Los Angeles we would proceed up to Oakland and begin the whole thing all over again.

These three vessel were 3 of 7 that were built in West Germany for American President Lines. The ships were so wide that they were designed NOT to pass through the Panama Canal. I had a succession of relief jobs with APL and I must say they were the most modern ships I had ever worked on in my entire career. This is probably due to the fact that they were state-of-the-art Motorships. They can comfortably cleave the waves at a whopping 24 knots.

The ships were manned with either 18 or 20 persons. This probably has been reduced since then. Most of the communications was done by satellite telephone. We used to pass most traffic via packet data using a phone transmission. We operated with a mailbox type of operation with Western Union easylink®.

The ships are equipped with a pool, sauna, complete gymnasium, bar and lounges for the crew and officers.

Bridge of MV President John F. Kennedy one of American President Lines' New C10 Containerships. I did 3 relief jobs on this type of ship. I was on the JFK, The President Polk and the President Adams. These ships had a crew of 21. When I began my career in the Merchant Marine in 1967 ships typically were manned by about 40 men.

Bar and Officers Lounge area on MV President Kennedy

HONGKONG HARBOUR                                                                   HONGKONG STREET SCENE

View from my quarters                                                                    President Kennedy bridge

                                 MV President Kennedy Docking at Hong Kong                 MV President Polk in Hong Kong Harbour

04/13/2003