The United Seamen’s Service 52nd annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Award will be presented to David Heindel, Secretary-Treasurer of the Seafarers International Union of North America, AFL-CIO and Chairman of the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s Seafarers’ Section, representing 1.2 million seafarers worldwide; Kathy Metcalf, President and CEO of the Chamber of Shipping of America; and William Woodhour, President and CEO of Maersk Line, Limited.
The traditional silver statuette of Christopher Columbus – the first Admiral of the Ocean Sea – will be accepted by the three honorees at a gala dinner to be conducted December 3, 2021 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel.
A special AOTOS Award will also be presented to Anthony Naccarato, President and Chairman of the American Maritime Officers Service, a Washington-based association comprised of some of the largest American flag maritime companies, which promotes the American flag maritime industry. In addition, the recipients will share the evening with a group of American seafarers who will be honored for acts of bravery at sea.
LTG Kenneth R. Wykle, USA, (Ret.), Chairman, USS AOTOS Committee, noted, “With such deserving recipients, we are pleased to continue the rich 52-year history of this prestigious event.”
He added: “Dave Heindel is an esteemed labor leader and a true friend to USS; Kathy Metcalf has brought a solid background in maritime affairs to her role at the Chamber, and Bill Woodhour now leads the important American-flag division of Maersk.”
The AOTOS Award has been presented for 52 consecutive years, including 2020 when the pandemic dictated a virtual event. COVID-19 also did not stop the industry from fulfilling its collective role as part of the nation’s essential workforce.
“Despite the pandemic, the American maritime industry – management and labor – continued moving and handling world commerce despite the personal risk and danger presented by COVID-19 globally,” said General Wykle. “We are expecting the industry to turn out to honor this year’s leaders and the brave seafarers who will also be recognized at the event.”
David Heindel began his career with the SIU in 1973, when he graduated from the program for entry-level mariners conducted at the union’s affiliated training facility in Piney Point, Maryland. He primarily sailed aboard deep-sea vessels as a member of the engine department before coming ashore in 1980 to work as a patrolman in his native New Orleans.
In August 2002, he was elected vice chairman of the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s (ITF’s) Seafarers’ Section. Since then, he was elected as Chairman in 2010, and re- elected in 2014 and 2018. He has extensively worked – both domestically and as part of U.S. delegations in international forums – with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the International Labor Organization and the International Maritime Organization on shipboard and port-security issues as well as the international project for a new Seafarers Identity Document. He was appointed to the U.S. Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy. He helped protect mariners’ rights under the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code and continues to help secure new agreements for tens of thousands of mariners worldwide under the ITF’s International Bargaining Forum.
Kathy Metcalf has led the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) in Washington since 2015. Previously since 1997, she was the chamber’s Director of Maritime Affairs. The CSA represents U.S.-based companies that either own, operate or charter vessels engaged in the domestic and international trades and companies that maintain a commercial interest in the operation of such oceangoing vessels.
Previously, Metcalf was Manager, State Government Affairs (Midwest) for the Sunoco Refining and Marketing Company; Manager, Regulatory Affairs for Sun Refining and Marketing Company; and worked for Sun Transport, Inc. in various shoreside positions and as a third mate on product and crude tankers. She attended the Seagoing/Shoreside Management Development Program (Third Mate/Asst. Port Captain) at the Gulf Oil Corporation from 1978 to 1981. Metcalf is a graduate of the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY.
William Woodhour has been President and CEO of Maersk Line, Limited (MLL), since 2016. MLL is an American company, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, that provides U.S.-flag transportation, ship management and maritime technical services to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (government and commercial customers) and employs American seafarers. Bill Woodhour has spent his entire maritime career with the Maersk organization. He joined the company in Madison, NJ, in 1991, working in sales and marketing for Maersk Line for 18 years. He was named Senior Vice President in North America for Maersk Inc. until moving to Copenhagen as Vice President of Maersk Line. He returned to the U.S. to assume leadership at MLL five years ago. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware - Lerner College of Business and Economics and attended Harvard Business School.
Tony Naccarato has spent more than 56 years in America’s maritime industry with such carriers as Clipper, Ogden Marine, OMI, Marine Transport Lines (MTL) and, most recently, Crowley Maritime Corp., when it acquired MTL. He is also Chairman of the Executive Committee of USS.
Proceeds from the AOTOS event benefit USS community services abroad for the U.S. Merchant Marine, seafarers of all nations, and U.S. government and military overseas.
For AOTOS 2021, Michael Sacco, President of the Seafarers International Union, is Dinner Chairman. Edward Morgan is President, and Roger Korner is Executive Director of USS. Information about the gala, tickets and advertising journal is available from USS AOTOS Coordinators, Barbara Spector Yeninas or Lisa Aurichio at [email protected] or (732) 817-0400. To contact USS directly, call (201) 369-1100 or email: [email protected].
