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Memorial Honors Seafarers Lost Far From Home
By KATE GURNETT, Staff writer
Albany Times Union
First published: Tuesday, December 16, 2003
If a sailor dies far from home, Nancy Papish feels he should not be alone. That belief prompted her on Monday to drive from Schenectady to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church on Western Avenue to honor the crew of the ill-fated Stellamare.
"I just was afraid that everybody was out shopping and it would look like we
didn't care," Papish said. "And we do care." "I have friends who sail in the Caribbean," added Mary Beth Vail of Latham. "If they were to drown, I'd want someone to be there."
Three Russian seamen are presumed drowned after their heavy-lift cargo ship
overturned at the Port of Albany on Dec. 9 while loading a 308-ton generator. On Sunday, divers
ended a fruitless search for Yuri Akofin, 48; Victor Alexeev, 46; and Sulieman Khasenevich, 43;
all of St. Petersburg, Russia. Fifteen other seamen plucked from the icy river or the
ship have returned to Russia. Another man, a noncrew member working for Ewig International Marine Corp. of New Jersey, remained hospitalized Monday in fair condition at Albany Medical
Center Hospital.
Since the accident, local residents have offered food, clothing and even
frequent flyer miles, the Rev. William G. Hempel told the gathering of about 50 people.
Some residents were dismayed when their offers to house or feed the
Stellamare sailors were rejected by customs officials, said Charlotte Buchanan, a co-founder of
Albany-Tula: Capital Region Alliance Inc. The group, founded in 1991, sponsors exchanges with its Russian sister-city.
"This was a disaster. To preclude the community from showing hospitality,
it's just unconscionable," said Buchanan, who has taken 15 trips to Tula, three hours
south of Moscow. "Some people may have forgotten about this connection," Buchanan said.
The crew was kept under guard at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany
because they were foreign nationals who would normally be confined to the ship and not
allowed to roam the city freely, Michael Milne, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Â said last week.
"It's a very sad situation," said Catalina Garcia of Albany, who joined U.S.
Coast Guard members, city firefighters, Mayor Jerry Jennings and Jumbo Shipping Co.
officials at Monday's service.
Once the ship is righted, police divers will again look for the bodies of the
missing seamen. Authorities theorize they are trapped inside the ship or lost downriver.
Seafarers understand religious faith better than most, said Hempel, chaplain
of the Albany Maritime Ministry at the Port of Albany and pastor at St. Paul's. "Because
mariners understand deeply something in their marrow: that they are not in control. ... Seafaring
is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Those who go down to the sea in ships understand
that and have somehow made peace with that." For them, faith is the compass, Hempel said. "Tonight, let our prayers set a  course for St. Petersburg."
The service will be broadcast at 9 a.m. today on the Internet-only station,
http://www.radioalbany.com, so that family members in Russia with access will
be able to hear it, station founder Joe Condon said.
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