So a union contracted MSC ship is quarantined at the dock and has been since March 19th. Initially it was a 30 day quarantine then it got extended to April 30. Meanwhile, life outside the gates goes on just like before Covid-19. Restaurants, stores, barber shops, all open.Vendors call the ship all the time. I have a friend that lives in Seoul. He’s always posting his restaurant visits and hair cuts on FB. But the U.S. crew is kept behind the gates for a month now with 2 more weeks to go (if it’s not extended).
Here we are over there helping them protect the 38th Parallel (yeah theres some mutual benefit goin on I know) and this is how we’re treated? It’s BS IMHO.
Anybody who has worked in either of the Koreas shouldn’t be surprised by what you are saying. Unless things have changed, these are some of the most racist people on the planet. When I was there some restaurants had “Korean Only” above the door. The disdain for westerners could be felt while walking on the streets sometimes. It’s always swaying between the the majority & minority that wants us there anyways. I say we wait for one of the weeks when the majority wants the US to leave the Korea Peninsula & pull out the fast as we can. Screw em.
I mean it’s their country so who the hell are we to tell them how to run it. Whats bs about quarantining a foreign ship with foreign crew during a pandemic?
Have you ever read a foreign published newspaper? Especially a North or South Korean newspaper? 50% of foreign international media is nothing more than non-Americans telling Americans how to run their country & foreign policies.
I hate to do this but to prove my point I summons @ombugge !!!
This is not the same as restricting a foreign crew to the ship (as our country is doing) that will be in port with commercial cargo for a day or two.
Our military is a long term guest at a Korean military base for our mutual benefit. Standard quarantine is 14 days. That is considered sufficient time for the virus to run it’s course. So…a 20 day quarantine is reasonable. A 30 day is not only BS but isn’t anchored in any medical logic. Nobody on that ship is a risk and they haven’t been for weeks. So 40 days is complete BS. Nobody on that vessel is going to infect anybody in that town. That’s why it is BS.
I agree with that. But I tried to imagine how many obnoxious Africans, Central Americans or Koreans I would have to put up with to feel comfortable with posting a “No Blacks, Hispanics or Asians Allowed” sign & it made me feel nauseous. I’m not a racist, I don’t have it in me. But I did see several, “Korean Only” signs in restaurants in Pusan, Busan, Soule & Incheon. In N. Korea no signs were needed but the racism was 10x worse. I know the old timers of South Korea set themselves on fire & write signs in their own blood in support of the US assisting in their defense from the lunatics of the North but I obtained a belly full very quickly. I say screw them. IMO, we should let North Korea & South Korea fight or work it out. I’m not surprised the American sailors are treated like infected even though they didn’t go anywhere besides their own ship for over 40 days. Many of the Koreans are blatant racists.
Are foreign crews allowed ashore in the US? I’m sure I remember a story of a Filipino watchman going down the gangway to help the agent with her bag and getting arrested.
Are MSC ships merchant ships or warships? I know our RFA like to think they are more military than the military but they are still merchant ships. (Not that being military personnel should give you any more right to go ashore if the port state don’t want you ashore.)
Things have probably changed since the Korean War. I visited South Korea recently and did not notice the disdain of which you speak, and certainly no “Korean Only” signs. I can’t comment on North Korea.
I thought the 38th parallel was the demarcation line?
I don’t know which foreign newspaper you are reading, but don’t flatter yourself by believing that America is that important to foreign readers.
It is true that more news about America is found in foreign media than what is written or said about the rest of the world in the mainstream US press. (Especially accurate and unbiased reporting)
PS> I do link to both “foreign”" and US media reports on a range of subject, incl US politics and news. I may even voice own opinions on various subjects.
How much is the quarantine originating from the South Korean government and how much from US Forces Command. My son is suppose to rejoin his ship in Guam but that is currently on hold. They too are on lockdown after arriving about a week ago.
I was last there in 2003. Like Dutchie I took pictures of the “Koreans Only” signs but it would take me all day to find them & I have other plans for today. When I was there, one place didn’t have a sign or if they did, we didn’t see it. An employee met us at the door shaking her head, holding up her hands angrily repeating the word no, no, no to us. But that was 17 years ago, hopefully things have changed.
(For background, the ‘gangway up’ order was by COMSC, two star admiral in charge of MSC, who ordered that MSC personnel afloat have all shore leave and liberty canceled. No one can go ashore except for cargo handling, shore connections, line handling, drafts. This applies at both CONUS and OCONUS.
For example, the crew onboard a ship in Norfolk, VA cannot leave the ship even if they live in Norfolk, have a house and family there, and the ship was in repair availability and cant get underway.
The question is if the contract mariners are subject to ‘gangway up’. I suspect they are because they fall under the MSC command umbrella. That’s not to say the GOCO side would follow that order to the letter…)
Well it’s sounding like I’m gonna be embarrased and will owe the Korean’s an apology. I never thought to ask that, just immediaetly made assumptions. I’ll find out and let everyone know.
A friend of mine on a U.S. Flag commercial ship that went from Seattle to S.F. said the crew was not allowed to disembark.
You are not the only one, though. I’m frequently “immediately assumed” to have an anti-American agenda, although nothing can be further from the truth.
