I sailed aboard the Steel Apprientice in 1971 as an OS. I believe the Captain at the time was Capt. Tanner. We left from Houston in September and went to Galveston to pick up a load of grain. Then on to New Orleans for some trucks which were headed to Rangoon (Burma). I believe we were the first US ship to go to Burma since WWII. I'm not sure about that though. From New Orleans, we went to Trinidad, for bunkers, and then to Durban, Columbo (Ceylon), Madras (India), Rangoon and over to Calcutta. We were there when the Bangladesh War started. We stayed in Calcutta 7 weeks getting double pay for being in a war zone. What a great experience. I never sailed on another Isthmian Lines ship. However, I did work on the Transpacific, to Veit Nam, which was a Hudson Waterways ship. I sailed from 1970 to 1993. What a great way to go through life.

Rick C. Ellis

P.S. The photo was taken May, 2005, in the jungle on Taboga Island (Panama). I grew up as a Zonian, hence my love of the sea.