MV Geysir is a U.S.-flagged general cargo/container ship owned by TransAtlantic Lines LLC. Originally named Amazonia, the 90-meter ship was built by American Atlantic Shipping in 1980 to serve a route from the United States to Brazil. In 1983, the ship was seized by the United States Maritime Administration for nonpayment of government loans.
In 1984, it was renamed Rainbow Hope and leased by a small startup company to serve a route between the United States and the American military base at Keflavik, Iceland. As Rainbow Hope the ship was central in an international disagreement between the United States and Iceland that would span years, be compared by The Chicago Tribune to the plot of the movie The Mouse That Roared, and involve political personalities including Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ken Starr, Elizabeth Dole, George Shultz, and Ronald Reagan.For The Mouse that Roared comparison and Elizabeth Dole's involvement, see For Antonin Scalia and Kenneth Starr, see U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., 1986. For Ronald Reagan and George Shultz, see Eichenwald 1987, p.2. For Ruth Bader Ginsburg, see U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., 1986.
After finally losing the Iceland route, the ship was renamed Juno, bought by Norwegian owners and worked in the Norwegian trade from 1996 to 1999. In 1999, it was bought by TransAtlantic Lines, renamed Geysir and put back on the U.S.–Iceland route, leading to further tensions between the United States and Iceland. After the 2006 closing of the United States Naval Station in Keflavik, the ship has gone on to carrying cargo to U.S. activities in the Azores.
Construction Then named Amazonia, the ship's keel was laid on 1 January 1977 at Equitable Shipyard in Madisonville, Louisiana. Its hull, constructed from ordinary strength steel,American Bureau of Shipping 2010, Hull page. has an overall length of , a beam of , and a moulded depth of . Its three general cargo holds have a total bale capacity of or grain capacity of .American Bureau of Shipping 2010, Capacity page. The ship has a gross tonnage of 2,266 GT and a total carrying capacity of .
Amazonia was built with eight ballast tanks, having a total ballast capacity of . Other major features of the ship's structure include its five diesel oil tanks, two lubricating oil tanks, two potable water tanks, a chain tank, and a waste water tank. The ship was built with two cranes, which have since been removed.American Bureau of Shipping 2010, Lifting Equipment page.
The ship features a MAN B&W Diesel A/S 8L28/32A main engine with eight cylinders with a stroke for maximum continuous power of driving a bronze propeller.American Bureau of Shipping 2010, Machinery page Electrical power is generated by two auxiliary generators. Construction of the ship was completed in 1980.American Bureau of Shipping 2010, General Characteristics page.
History In the early 1980s, the company American Atlantic Shipping, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Maritime Industries, built three 2,000 DWT multi-purpose ships to carry cargo between the United States and Brazil: the Amazonia and her two sister-ships, America and Antilla. In 1983, the United States Maritime Administration took possession of the three ships after American Atlantic defaulted on Title XIThe federal Title XI program is part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. It provides federal guarantees to American customers of American shipbuilders. The government does not finance construction of these ships directly; rather, it guarantees repayments of loans issued by independent banks. The program is administered by the United States Maritime Administration. payments.
Rainbow Hope In May 1984, entrepreneur Mark W. Yonge of Monmouth County, New Jersey founded Rainbow Navigation for the sole purpose of serving the route between the United States and United States military base at Keflavik, Iceland.U.S. Court of Appeals, 1986, p.1.Eichenwald 1987, p.1. Using money he earned from a ship-chartering company, Yonge chartered Amazonia from the Department of Transportation and renamed it Rainbow Hope. The company consisted of one ship, a crew of 22, and seven full-time employees. Icelandic companies had serviced the Iceland route since the late 1960s. Yonge submitted a bid quoting the same rates that the Icelandic companies were charging and invoked the Cargo Preference Act of 1904. Rainbow won an $11 million contract to carry 70% of the cargo on the route, and immediately began to work the route under contract to the Military Sealift Command.U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., 1990.
According to an official of the U.S. State Department speaking on the condition of anonymity, "Almost right at the start, Iceland let their feelings be known about losing the business... For the Icelanders, who are entirely dependent on seagoing trade, it was an issue of national sovereignty." Minister Counselor for the Icelandic Embassy in Washington, Hordur Bjarnason informed the Reagan Administration that Iceland "could not accept that a foreign shipping company would have a monopoly on carrying the cargo to Iceland."
Before Rainbow Hope ever left the pier, the Department of Transportation approached Rainbow trying to defuse the situation. The New York Times characterized the ensuing fight as Rainbow Navigation versus "the Navy, the National Security Council and the Departments of State, Defense, Justice and Transportation to the President himself." During 1985, Iceland raised the matter with the United States Department of State at least six times, including a meeting in Lisbon in June of that year between Secretary of State George Shultz and Foreign Minister of Iceland Geir Hallgrimsson.Eichenwald 1987, p.2. Shultz described the matter as a "major irritant in U.S.–Icelandic relations" and relations were strained to the point that Iceland threatened to start boarding U.S.-flagged ships and to close the Keflavik base.U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., 1986.
Shultz's State Department attempted to solve the problem in a number of ways. It tried and failed to have the 1904 Cargo Preference Act amended. It made an offer to pay Icelandic shipping firms monetary damages for loss of the route, which was refused. President Reagan asked United States Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman, Jr. to determine if Rainbow's claim under the Cargo Preference Act was valid, and on 8 August 1985, Lehman declared Rainbow's rates to be "excessive and unreasonable." Within four days, Rainbow pressed suits in United States District Court against "the Department of the Navy and various other federal agencies" as well as "the Secretary of the Navy and various other government officials in their personal capacities." The suits demanded declaratory and injunctive relief from the federal agencies and monetary damages from the named individuals. The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, representing Rainbow Hopes crew, joined Rainbow in the suits.
On 15 October 1985, the District Court issued its order, granting Rainbow's requests for declaratory and injunctive relief, and ordered the government to withdraw a call for new bids. The government appealed the finding. On 27 January 1986, the panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of appeals consisting of future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, future Starr Report special prosecutor Kenneth Starr and Senior Circuit Judge Carl E. McGowan upheld Rainbow's victory.United States Court of Appeals, Washington D.C. District, 1986. During the appeal, the government's attorneys conceded that Lehman's finding of Rainbow's rates to be "excessive and unreasonable" was politically motivated, and the court found some arguments put forth by Shultz and Lehman "extraordinary" and having "no rational basis". In particular, Scalia wrote that the "factual basis for (Lehman's) assertion (wa)s utterly lacking." During this time, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole supported Rainbow, according to the Chicago Tribune, as a viable employer of United States mariners.
Eight months later, the government took a different approach to solve its problem with Rainbow, in the form of the 1986 Treaty Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iceland to Facilitate Their Defense Relationship.U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C., 1990. Text of the treaty is available at 1986 Treaty Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iceland to Facilitate Their Defense Relationship. This treaty, negotiated by future Secretary of Veteran Affairs Ed Derwinski, updated the 1951 U.S.–Iceland treaty, adding an explicit exemption of the Cargo Preference Act, guaranteeing 35% of the contract would go to Icelandic companies, and giving Icelandic companies an opportunity to compete for up to 65% of the contract." At the time, Derwinski said, "If we don't solve this problem, then the U.S. will be in a cod war". The United States Senate ratified the treaty one day before Reagan left for Reykjavik to attend a summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan met with the President of Iceland, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, before seeing Gorbachev, giving his guarantee that the majority of the contract would be returned to Icelandic shipping companies.
Though a tumultuous time, Rainbow Hope kept at least part of the Iceland route from 1987 through late 1990. In the 1987 bidding, Rainbow was the only U.S. company to bid. Bids from Icelandic competitors were lower, giving them 65% of the carriage rights, while Rainbow Hope secured the remaining 35%. In the 1988 bidding, the Navy changed the bidding process in a way Rainbow found unfair, and Rainbow took a new case to the Washington D.C. District Court. By May 1988, the court had issued a preliminary injunction halting the bidding process and ordering carriage be continued under the terms of the 1987 contracts. In November 1988, the court granted a summary judgement for Rainbow, finding the new bidding system illegal. This judgement held for nearly two years, but was ultimately overturned on 24 August 1990, when a panel of Judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Douglas H. Ginsburg and David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Washington D.C. Circuit, reversed the lower court's decision.
Operational incidents In addition to the almost non-stop succession of challenges related to the contracts on the U.S.–Iceland run, Rainbow Hope was involved in a few notable operational incidents. The most notable of these involves a labor strike that prevented Rainbow Hope from discharging cargo, keeping the vessel at anchor for 22 days.3rd U.S. Circuit Court, 1991. The ship was scheduled to depart bound for Iceland on 24 September 1984, but the U.S. Government and Rainbow were aware there was the possibility of a strike by Icelandic longshoremen scheduled to begin on 4 October. Rainbow Hope arrived at Njarðvík, Iceland on 8 October, while the strike was already underway. Rainbow repeatedly contacted the U.S. government for instructions, but none were given. The ship remained idle at anchor for 22 days unable to discharge its cargo. The strike ended on 30 October, and the cargo was delivered the next day. The government paid Rainbow $266,370.50 for the delivery, but Rainbow filed suit in the 3rd Circuit Court seeking remuneration for the extra 22 days of waiting. The court denied the claim, and appeals lasted until 24 June 1991, when the appeals court upheld the earlier decision.
Other operational incidents of note include a 1988 fire during a return voyage from Iceland to the United States which forced the ship to stop in Newfoundland for repairs, and a crane breakdown on 15 November 1991 during cargo operations that required repairs be made in Praia da Vitória, Azores.
Juno