At this point I have completed the first seven months of MOL Liner's new POWER program, and I'm happy to report that I'm just as excited about my next adventure as I was when I began the program in November. So far, it has proven to be a valuable and enlightening experience.

I am currently training in the Transpacific pricing department, and have already had the opportunity to study under the Transatlantic, Latin America, and Reefer departments. Each trade manager has given me great insight into the different markets and pricing strategies utilized by the individual trade groups. My favorite and most eye-opening experience thus far has been the week that I spent at the TRAPAC terminal in Los Angeles. Since terminal operations have always fascinated me, the chance to actually be out in the "yard" among the longshoremen, and on the vessel with the crew, was an incredibly fulfilling experience. It was a great way to learn and understand some of the basics of our industry.

Neobia Davis (MOL Chicago), who is on active duty at Ft. Sheridan, IL, led the effort with help from Berta Mister and Reefer Team member Jenna Glass, both of whom volunteered their time to help box up the care packages. MOL employees nationwide offered their support with generous donations.

A few days from the virus' first appearance we knew that it was a respiratory infection that caused outbreaks of influenza in pigs, and that its symptoms typically included headache, chills, cough followed by fever, loss of appetite, muscle aches and fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, and throat irritation. In more severe cases, or in people with chronic conditions, complications such as pneumonia might also develop.

This particular strain of the influenza virus had never been identified in humans before. The month of April saw the number of reported cases, as well as deaths, continue to rise steadily. There were 103 known deaths during April, and most regions of Mexico were affected.

As the situation continued to worsen, we all experienced an interruption in our normal daily activities. It was a very shocking thing to experience. The government closed down schools while authorities called on employers to be lenient with absenteeism and late arrivals, particularly as the day care centers were also ordered closed. Church services in the capital were suspended, and two First Division soccer matches were played before empty stadiums. Mexico City restaurants were being asked to close early and keep attendance to 50 people maximum. Several hotels in the capital reported canceled bookings, partly because people feared the virus, and partly because visitors thought there would be nothing to do, what with public attractions such as museums shut down. Hundreds of cultural and entertainment events were called off.

As the days passed, a growing number of people began using face masks on buses, at supermarkets, and particularly on the Metro, which transports around 4 million passengers on a normal business day; however a complete shutdown of the Metro system might have been considered had the number of people affected, or the number of deaths increased.

Here at MOL Mexico we followed all the recommendations from the Health Authorities, but when the level of the emergency went up to 5/6, MOL Mexico management decided to put into practice, for the very first time, our Disaster Recovery plan (designed just one year ago). A copy of the entire plan and a personnel directory was distributed to all MOL Mexico employees. In order to minimize the impact on operational interruptions, a skeleton staff plan was assembled for the five-day closure period recommended by the authorities.

Mothers with small children were exempt from participating in the plan, and were kept safe at home during the closure. Some basic operative functions were delegated to our sub-agencies at the ports (Manzanillo, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Altamira and Veracruz) who temporarily assumed some of our office functions. All laptop users were recommended to work from home and the rest of the staff were encouraged to stay indoors as much as possible. Those working from home were advised to remain alert for telephone calls from members of Disaster Committee (Yamamura, Ortega, Pulido, Ramirez and Fernandez), and to news bulletins on TV for any official announcement or updates.

As president of the Disaster Committee, Kaoru Yamamura was the official link to MOL Management with regard to any new developments. Miguel Ortega, the Disaster Committee's general coordinator, was in charge of issuing all official announcements to the MOL network.

We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank those who offered their help and support during this difficult time. Special thanks to Tom Kelly, Jim Galligan, Mike Kaelin, Eric Johnson and Cindy Tommaso for all their support and their expeditious action during this crisis. We also appreciate all of the messages of solidarity we received from our MOLAM colleagues.

"Raza was able to guide me to the best places in Dubai: museums, Dubai gold shops, the Al-Jumeirah mosque, beaches, the best shopping malls, Burj Al Arab, etc. I was amazed by the architecture in Dubai, not only the incredibly tall buildings with their interesting shapes, but also those that are still under construction. There are plans for buildings which will be in the middle of the sea and in some cases actually under water.

"My favorite part of the trip was a desert safari. It is a 90-minute drive from the airport, and upon reaching the desert we then transferred into SUV/Jeep-type vehicles. There were literally hundreds of Jeeps driving across the desert, each holding five tourists. We drove for three hours at more than 50 kph across mountain-sized sand dunes. It was better than a roller coaster. We also had an opportunity to walk some. There were so many camels walking all around us. I finally found someone who is taller than I am. We were warned not to go near to them, so the moral of the story: never tease a camel unless you can run faster than it can.

Rachel recently reported that Hanan has been asked to participate in a tribute album of late rock and roll legend Roy Orbison's music. Hanan will perform his own arrangement of the Orbison hit "Pretty Woman."

I would like to take this opportunity, my last issue of Open Sea, to say thank you to all who have helped me out with its quarterly production these past three years. As I've always said, I couldn't do it without you. Thank you for sharing your stories and your lives with me and your fellow MOL family members.