Navy cargo ship, USNS Seay, just keeps rolling along.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

The rebuilding of Iraq is just as demanding on sealift operators as the war. The current missions of the USNS Seay (T-AKR 302) offer a glimpse of the post-war sealift operations.

The Seay--one of the Military Sealift Command's Bob Hope class of large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships--returned in May from a voyage delivering equipment for the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment in Kuwait.

After a few days in Newport News, Va., to fill the ship's stores, perform some minor maintenance and undergo some routine safety inspections, she was off again. This time, the Seay pulled into the port of Charleston, S.C., rook on a load of humanitarian and peacekeeping supplies, and headed back to the Persian Gulf.

The round trip to Kuwait and back usually takes about 56 days, said Chief Mate Peter K. Strez. "We stop in Greece, coming and going, to refuel," he said.

As chief mate, Strez is second in command of the ship. "Basically, I'm the eyes and ears for the captain on deck," Strez explained. "He can't be everywhere. When he gives an order, I carry it our."

After the Third ACR shipped its equipment from its base at Fort Carson, Colo., to the port of Beaumont, Texas, it took six LMSRs, including the Seay, to move that gear from Beaumont to Kuwait. Included were Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, humvees and Apache helicopters. "We always carry a mixed cargo," said Strez.

The Seay--christened in 1998 at Northrop Grumman's Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans--was named for Army Sgt. William M. Seay, who won a posthumous Medal of Honor in Vietnam. The ship is designed to carry large cargo and to deliver it quickly. (related story p. 26)

The Seay can cruise at a speed of 24 knots, which is pretty fast for a vessel that is almost as big as an aircraft carrier, Strez said. It has six cavernous decks. Some can be moved up or down to make room for particularly bulky platforms, such as Chinook helicopters, Strez said.

The decks have countless cloverleaf-shaped vehicle tie-downs built into them. The cloverleaves attach to heavy, steel chains--each capable of bearing 17,000 pounds of weight--that are used to lash down tanks, trucks and heavy equipment, he explained. Four are required to restrain a humvee. Eight are needed for a 70-ton tank.

An Abrams is about the heaviest thing we have to handle here," Strez said.

Heavy Seas

The vehicles have to be tied down, so that they won't move when heavy seas rock the ship, Strez said. The lashings have to be checked...