Orange Juice Aplenty!

I've mentioned before that, while we are, of course, equally devoted to all seafarers, SCI has a special relationship with the crews of the orange juice tankers that berth in Port Newark. I'm convinced that this is largely because the ships are just so intriguing - I mean, come on, how could your curiosity not be peaked by a floating vessel carrying 30,000 metric tons of OJ? 

But there are definitely other reasons for our mutual devotion - for one, the 5 sister ships (the Orange Wave, Blossom, Sun, Sky, and Star) have been coming into Newark for longer than any of the chaplains can remember. Because the world of orange juice shipping is comparatively small (although it's still way larger than I ever would have guessed - between all the shipping companies, there are some 60 OJ tankers patrolling the high seas!), the seafarers are far more likely to come back to work on the same ship for years on end. In a job setting where you can go months and even years without seeing the same seafarer again, it's good to have some regulars. Their berth is close enough to our center that they can walk, so they know us well, and we see them often when they're in port.

Plus there's the bit where we love to visit their ships - an orange ship will be in for anywhere from 4-12 days, and they get visited by one chaplain or another on an almost daily basis. It's kind of a ridiculous use of our time - there are plenty of ships that we never get around to, and the OJ crews all have shore leave and aren't particularly needy. But the allure is hard to resist - unlike any other vessels in the port, the orange ships are beautiful and spotlessly clean. They'll always offer you an entire pitcher of fresh, Brazilian orange juice for your consumption (don't ever insult them by suggesting that their juice is from concentrate - they use liquid nitrogen to keep it fresh) and, if you play your cards right, it's pretty easy to get yourself invited for lunch. They crews are mostly Croatian, with a smattering of Spanish, Ukrainian, and Filipino thrown in for good measure, and you can be assured of a delicious Mediterranean meal. They surely know that, more often than not, we come aboard hoping for handouts rather than with the intention of being pastoral, but they humor us - after all, they do use our phones, internet, and transportation service whenever they're in. 

Much to my delight, the Orange Sun was just in for almost two weeks, because the storage unit was too full for her to unload any faster (it's incredibly difficult for me to imagine that, in a world paralyzed by fear of H1N1, global orange juice consumption has reached an all time low - go out and stock up, folks!). In that time, I visited her on three occasions and consumed what probably amounted to two gallons of juice (I take my perks where I can get 'em - I sure as hell can't afford to buy fresh-squeezed at New York prices!). I may work in one of the most dangerous and most polluted places on earth, but at least no one can say that I don't get my vitamins. Score.