[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 131 (Thursday, September 6, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H10198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PRAISING THE RESCUE EFFORTS OF HORIZON LINES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, when most Americans think of open-seas rescue 
operations, they think rightly about the United States Coast Guard. Our 
Nation's Coast Guard has a distinguished history of search and rescue 
missions dating back 217 years. They recently celebrated their one-
millionth rescue, and I want to commend the bravery and service of this 
time-honored branch of our Armed Forces.
  But it turns out the Coast Guard isn't the only one assisting 
seafarers in distress these days. North Carolina-based Horizon Lines, a 
leading domestic ocean shipping company, came to the rescue of 22 
Chinese crew members on a 420-foot log ship this summer. The log ship 
was transporting a load from Papua New Guinea to China, when it 
encountered the 70-mile-per-hour winds and 24-foot seas of a typhoon. 
The rough seas apparently caused the log ship's cargo to shift and 
eventually led to the loss of the vessel.
  The ship, the Hai Tong, had sunk in the very rough seas and the 
survivors had been adrift in the ocean 375 miles from Guam for 2 days 
when the Horizon Lines container ship, the Horizon Falcon, arrived. The 
Horizon Falcon was the first vessel to arrive on the scene after the 
log ship's crew alerted the Coast Guard to the Hai Tong's distress.
  When the Horizon Falcon arrived, it found survivors in the water 
surrounded by an oil slick and debris from the sunken ship. With the 
U.S. Coast Guard on the way, the Horizon Line's vessel immediately 
began a search and rescue operation amidst treacherous 30-foot swells 
and 40-mile-an-hour winds.
  The Horizon Falcon's captain, Tom McDorr, navigated through the heavy 
seas filled with the log ship's cargo and managed to get the huge 722-
foot container ship within range of a rescue mission using one of the 
ship's lifeboats. His brave crew took the small lifeboat into the heavy 
seas, which still threatened their lives with 20-foot waves, and began 
searching for survivors of the wreck.
  Due to the distance of the nearest Coast Guard vessels, at this point 
there were not yet any Coast Guard rescuers on the scene. The lifeboat, 
crewed by three of the Horizon Falcon's seamen and under the command of 
Chief Mate Kevin McCarthy, fought its way through the massive waves and 
managed to locate and take one survivor aboard with waves crashing down 
on the vessel from literally every direction.
  I cannot say enough to commend the bravery of these men who risked 
their lives to save someone with whom they had no connection. Their 
selfless act was a demonstration of profound humanity in the face of 
extreme danger.
  The danger was so great that as they returned to the ship with a 
survivor in the lifeboat they were forced to abandon the damaged 
lifeboat, to the heavy seas. The crew and the rescued seaman managed to 
climb to safety up the containership's 40-foot pilot's ladder.
  The heroic actions of the Horizon Falcon's crew continued as another 
survivor was rescued by able-seaman J. Dacaug. He was secured to the 
pilot's ladder and went back to the ocean after the additional 
survivors. He managed to attach a grappling hook to a Chinese sailor 
even as he was battered by the huge swells and occasionally was 
submerged completely in the heavy seas. His bravery resulted in another 
life saved when both men were winched back to the safety of the 
container ship.
  The Falcon continued to search through the night for more survivors 
with the help of additional commercial ships and by the light of flares 
from a Navy airplane based in Japan. As the Falcon began to run low on 
fuel, it was relieved by a Coast Guard vessel that joined the search. 
The Coast Guard finally suspended the search 2 days later after 13 
survivors had been rescued.
  Working against time and the power of nature, the captain and crew of 
the Horizon Falcon risked their own lives so others might emerge from a 
disastrous shipwreck to sail another day. Chuck Raymond of Horizon 
Lines put it well. ``Ever since man has been going to sea, there has 
been danger. But there also has been and will ever be brotherhood at 
sea that crosses any boundary. This rescue effort is a shining example 
of that.''
  The Coast Guard also praised the heroic actions of the Falcon's crew 
saying that their efforts were to be ``commended and do not go 
unnoticed.'' I completely agree. We live in a time when it is easy to 
pass up opportunities to help someone in distress with the assumption 
that someone else will take care of it. But in the spirit of the Good 
Samaritan, the crew of the Falcon proved that ordinary people can do 
extraordinary good if given a chance. They deserve to be commended for 
reaching out across boundaries of language and culture and helping 
people in dire need.
  I wish to extend my thanks to all the people at this fine North 
Carolina company for a job well done. They have shown what they value 
most, which is to protect human lives at all cost and to reach out to 
those in need. I hope other companies take notice and follow their lead 
in this exemplary deed.

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