Freak ocean wave damages MTMC cargo. (Anatomy of a catastrophe).When the MV Mokihana arrived in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , it presented a nightmarish view. The MTMC MTMC Military Traffic Management Command (US DoD) MTMC Mount Marty College MTMC Micros-to-Mainframes, Inc. (stock symbol) MTMC Middle Tennessee Medical Center (Murfreesboro, TN) representatives--Tom White, of MTMC Headquarters, and Bob Ward, of the Deployment Support Command's 834th Transportation Battalion, Concord, Calif.--along with American President Lines American President Lines Ltd. (now simply referred to as APL) is the world's sixth largest container transportation and shipping company, providing services to more than 140 countries through a network combining intermodal freight transport operations with IT and e-commerce. , Limited, official Lars Magnusson, were stunned. As the vessel came into view Dec. 18, huge, heavy metal shipping containers were crushed, collapsed, and missing. MTMC is now in the process of notifying and assisting service members whose personal property was lost or damaged in the incident. Records indicate those losing their personal property include a senior airman transferring from Yokota Air Force Base, Japan, to Moody Air Force Base Moody Air Force Base is the home of the United States Air Force 23d Wing located in Lowndes County, about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Valdosta, Georgia. , Ga., and an Army civilian, GS-12, moving from Camp Zama, Japan, to the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif. "A giant wave reportedly went over the top of the ship," said Bambi Beatty, Traffic Management Specialist, with the DSC (1) (Digital Signal Controller) A microcontroller and DSP combined on the same chip. It adds the interrupt-driven capabilities normally associated with a microcontroller to a DSP, which typically functions as a continuous process. See microcontroller and DSP. , Fort Eustis, Va. Even for veteran members of the maritime community, the damage seemed enormous. "It was amazing," said Beatty, who manages APL (A Programming Language) A high-level mathematical programming language noted for its brevity and matrix generation capabilities. Developed by Kenneth Iverson in the mid-1960s, it runs on micros to mainframes and is often used to develop mathematical models. and Matson Navigation Company Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, is a private ocean transportation company with roots extending into the late 19th century. It is credited with introducing mass tourism to Hawaii with the opening of the Moana Hotel (now known as the Moana Surfrider Hotel) , Inc.'s ocean services to Department of Defense customers. "Containers were hanging over the sides," said Beatty. "The carrier was extremely careful in docking the vessel in order to have containers that were hanging off the side positioned over the water, away from the docks, to avoid their falling on anybody." The vessel was sailing from Yokohama, Japan to San Pedro, California as part of APL's Guam-China Express Service. Matson owns and operates the MV Mokihana in a vessel-sharing arrangement with APL for this service. Matson also provides its services between Guam and the U.S. West Coast with the vessels in this service. In all, 26 containers were lost, including eight MTMC household goods containers holding service members' personal property. Three of the containers had been laid on board by APL, and five by Matson. Nine additional APL containers of MTMC household goods were damaged, five of the nine so severely that the cargo had to be repacked in different containers. MTMC representatives report the goods had heavy salt water damage. |
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