European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Assignment red sea capt. Peter w. Bulkeley commander of destroyer so 22, climbers aboard the merchant vessel led Enlace during a cargo inspection in the red sea. Boarding parties a daily Duel with tension excitement and cockroaches by j. King Cruger staff write boardings of merchant vessels Are tense dangerous physically demanding tiring frequently disgusting and according to the Guys who do them Day in and Day out in the red sea fascinating and fun boarding Crews Are handpicked from different divisions of the warships boarding members must be in Fine physical condition they have to be for they must daily climb fully aimed and with loads sometimes weighing mom than 100 pounds the soaring sides of 100.000-ton tankers anti Container ships Quot yesterday. We boarded a jordanian Oil Tanker that had an 80-fool ladder some of Hie men the ones with Bolt cutlets had to kilo loads you be got to be fit to do that. Said it Dave Jordan 26, gunnery officer aboard the Royal australian Navy ingate Sydney one of the ships in the multinational interdiction Effort Quot some of the Crews on the merchant ships especially on some of the smaller coasters Are pretty ragged and untidy men one ship we boarded the other Day had at least two inches of garbage that we had to Wade through in its  said Jordan ships to be boarded Are required to lower Pilot s ladders Over the port Side. The swaying ladders Are made of rope and Wood and Are difficult to climb under the Bestol conditions when the sea is kicking up eight foot Waves and the Small whaleboat used to ferry boarding parties irom the warships to the merchant vessels Are leaping up and Down 16 feet against the towering sides of merchant ships getting on and off is a very Dicey Deal a mistimed leap May mean being crushed Between hulls Many Pilot ladders Are frayed or have rungs that break under a Sailor s weight. But the really tense part of the operation begins when the sailors climb Over the ships mils it is then that they Are most vulnerable to attack perhaps by terrorists the americans Board in 12-Man parties made up of eight sailors and four coast guardsmen the Crews Are dressed in Blue coveralls they Wear no rank insignia and no name tags. Each Man carries a Shotgun or a 45-caliber handgun. The boarders fan out fast to search the ship and account for All personnel once the ship has been secured its Crew is allowed to gather someplace inside where they can be comfortable while being guarded. Quot the first few minutes of a boarding Are pretty intense until we know where everybody is. Then we have a Good time Quot said Navy chief Petty officer Richard Overstreet 33. A Boarder from the Fitch. Americans put boarding parties aboard by whaleboat or by helicopter the aussies however can use their so called last rope technique. This involves having men slide Down ropes from a hovering sea Hawk helicopter onto the deck of a merchant vessel Quot out of the 130 boardings we have earned out we have done 20 of them by fast rope it is Safe and Quick and is particularly useful when a ship wont Stop or when we Are having especially bad weather Quot said cmdr Lee g. Cordner the Sydney s skipper. Many masters of merchant vessels Are quite used to the boarding procedures. Some merchant Skippers such As capt. Antun Gold of the maltese flagged Container ship Ledenick Are boarded so often that they Are called Quot frequent flyers by the Mif staff. Quot now everybody knows the inspection routine. Skippers All Over the world know what they can and can to carry in and out of Aqaba Quot Gold said. The boarding party examines a ships papers and manifests to ensure that it is not carrying prohibited goods to or from Iraq. While this is being done other members of the boarding team examine cargo in the holds. Quot rats cockroaches. You name them and these ships have them but they Are no problem. The boarding is the fun part of the Job. Ships Are strange animals. You always see something different aboard Quot said coast guard it. Pat Benish a boarding team Leader. Sometimes boarders wish they had missed some of the sights. Navy chief Petty officer Allen Cashwell 42, the senior enlisted member of the Fitch boarding team recalls the 90-degree Day when he clambered aboard a ship hauling 60,000 live sheep from new zealand to Aqaba. In one of the ships holds he encountered a stinking pile of 900 dead sheep. Quot just about every ship in be boarded has Roaches and my boarding partner lines to throw them on me that s about the Only thing i Don t like about the boardings Quot said Petty officer 2nd class Jeff ferry 23, another Fitch crewman. Sometimes team members must Wear respirators. Some of the vessels haul dangerous chemical cargoes and have sealed holds filled with toxic fumigants or holds devoid of oxygen said Cashwell a native of Albany a. Quot the worst part of the Job is seeing the Way some of the Crews have to live on these ships. Most of the ships Are pretty Nasty Quot said another Fitch Boarder Petty officer 1st class Ron Zarzeck of Cahokia Iii. Often ships passages Are unlighted. Holds May be 50 feet deep and must be entered by climbing Down Rusty ladders with missing rungs. The boarders go Over the ships thoroughly and often open and inspect hundreds of sealed containers. Quot the most boardings in be done in a Day was eight but the worst Day was one during which we Only boarded three ships but had to open 600 containers on them. You Don t realize How tired you Are until the end of the Day Quot said Overstreet a resident of Pryor okla. Few ships actually Are diverted said coast guard capt. Ned Kiley. Quot six percent of the ships have been diverted and Many of the diverts Haven t been for prohibited cargo but were because the ship s Manifest was not Complete or its cargo was not accessible Quot Kiley said. Quot sometimes a ship will shift cargo and get its manifests m order. A vessel boarded and diverted one Day May be allowed through on the same Day Quot Kiley said chief Petty officer Jack Phillips is the Stark s chief Bosun s mate and is not a boarding party member but he tees the boarding parties return Day after Day Quot most Days they come Back soaked in sea water but Iney Are a pretty Hardy Bunch of Guys said Phillips a resident of Jacksonville Fla. Quot they Don t complain  Stark crewman Petty officer 1st class Benjamin Drayton or. Above pilots die whaleboat in rough seas while chief Harry Haverkamp right questions the master of the merchant ship. Chief Petty officer Richard Overstreet strains at a stubborn Container door. January 4, 1992 the stare and stripes the stars and stripes january 4, 1992