Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Master Fred Walley, of the S.S. Wright, a Crowley-managed, Maritime Administration (MARAD) Ready Reserve Force (RRF) ship, was presented with the Spirit Award at the Nationals Park during a televised Major League Baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies on National Maritime Day, May 25. National Maritime Day is an annual observance that recognizes the U.S. maritime industry.
The American Waterways Operators, the national trade association of the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, is using National Maritime Day to remind Americans about the many significant contributions of the nation’s domestic mariners.
These words by author Horace Greeley in the mid-1800s helped spur the American westward movement that ultimately created the state of California. Tomorrow marks National Maritime Day, and Greeley’s words resonate all the more strongly for the citizens of our maritime state as we embark upon the American Pacific century. We need only look West once more to find golden opportunities on our Pacific doorstep.
The old saying “he who rules the seas rules the world” is still relevant today. National and global interests — for America, in particular — are inextricably linked to the seas.
