The 20th Annual Maritime Memorial Service, "commemorating those mariners and fishermen who have died this past year, which had been scheduled to be held at the Seamen's Memorial Sundial on Lakeshore Drive in Port Arthur, was moved because of the weather into a large, covered warehouse at the Port of Port Arthur.

Father Sinclair K. Oubre, the diocesan director of the Apostleship of the Sea in the Diocese of Beaumont, and the director of the Port Arthur International Seafarers Center, welcomed attendees to the event. Listen  Download

The United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Office at Port Arthur provided the color guard, Volunteer Coordinator Earline Smith read the Liturgy of the Word: Psalm 107 and Joyce Kean lead the audience in singing Eternal Father Strong to Save.

The event included a special recognition of the Texas Maritime Academy at A&M University at Galveston. Listen  Download

Rear Admiral Allen Worley, superintendent of the academy, and Dr. William McMullen, professor, Maritime Transportation Department, traveled from Galveston for the ceremony.

"More than 90 percent of the goods people buy have traveled part of their journey by way of water, whether from overseas, on one of the rivers or along the Intracoastal Waterway," Worley said.

Worley appealed to the audience to urge Congress to provide funding for an improved Texas Clipper training ship.

"I am right now begging within the Congress of the United States for $30 million to convert the new ship that the Maritime Administration has provided to us into a nautical training vessel that will be able to house at least 400 cadets when we get underway with summer training," Worley said.

Carl Sanders of Neches Gulf Marine, a TAMUG alumnus, talked about the importance of the academy to his life.