Richardson and Veitch to Receive Awards

The United Seamen’s Service (USS) 2006 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards will be presented to container shipping pioneer Paul F. Richardson, President of Paul F. Richardson Associates Inc., and Colin Veitch, President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, which has commenced new American-flag passenger ship activity. The maritime industry honor will be awarded at a gala industry dinner and dance to be held at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, New York City, on November 3, 2006. John Bowers, Chairman of the USS AOTOS Committee and President of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO, made the announcement on Maritime Day May 22, 2006.

Richardson and Veitch led the field of nominees for the award, sought by USS from over 150 maritime management, labor and government officials. All proceeds from the event benefit USS community services abroad for the U.S. merchant marine and those of other free world countries. The recipients will share the evening with a group of American seafarers who will be honored for specific acts of bravery at sea. Mr. Richardson’s experience in transportation has been as a specialist in containerization, company management and labor. He held a key leadership role in the dynamic growth of Sea-Land Service, Inc., forging its development and serving as President and Vice Chairman of the innovative steamship company. In 1977, he established Paul F. Richardson Associates, Inc., an international maritime and transportation consulting firm serving various segments of the maritime industry including carriers, ports, shipbuilding companies, inland carriers, labor and labor-management groups. Today, Paul Richardson continues to hold key leadership and management roles in the industry serving on numerous boards, councils and committees. These include the American Bureau of Shipping, U. S. Coast Guard Foundation, Council of the Americas and numerous significant government commissions and committees.

Richardson joined McLean Trucking Co. in 1952 and worked alongside the McLean family as containerization in the shipping industry commenced. In 1960, he was named Regional Sales Manager at Sea-Land and by 1969 was President, a position he held until 1976, when he was promoted to Vice Chairman. A recipient of other industry awards, including the Connie Award and the Maritime Hall of Fame. He is a graduate of Boston University and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Under Mr. Veitch’s stewardship, NCL (America), a division of NCL he also heads, placed into service Pride of Aloha, NCL’s first U.S. flag vessel in June 2004. It was the first passenger ship to join the American fleet in 50 years. Pride of Aloha is crewed by nearly 800 American seafarers and was joined in 2005 by Pride of America and this year by Pride of Hawai’i, all of them American ships operated by NCL America in the Hawaiian Islands cruise routes. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta said: "Raising the Stars and Stripes over more ships raises our maritime strength and raises jobs."

The Pride of Aloha was projected to generate annually more than $275 million in expenditures, $199 million in direct and indirect wages and salaries, $42 million in federal tax revenues, and nearly 7,000 jobs. NCL America's three U.S.-flag ships are expected to generate more than $828 million in U.S. economic activity and 20,400 jobs, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study. Mr. Veitch is also President of Orient Lines and a member of the boards of NCL Holding ASA and Star Cruises, Ltd. Previously, he held executive positions at Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises. Mr. Veitch holds an MBA degree from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of London.

For AOTOS 2006, Captain Robert Hart, USN (ret.) and Samuel B. Nemirow will be serving as National Committee Co-Chairmen. Michael Sacco, President of the Seafarers International Union, is Dinner Chairman. Other committee members and chairmanships will be announced shortly.