Interesting Ship of The Week - The 'J.W. Westcott II'

The J.W. Westcott II, owned and operatd by the J.W. Westcott Company based in Detroit Michigan, is a 45-foot-long tugboat that acts as a USPS contracted mail courier, delivering mail and other packages to vessels while underway.

In order to get your mail delivered to your ship, first you must be in the vicinity of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit, MI with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada, and simply have your mail delivered to (Vessel Name), Marine Post Office, Detroit, Michigan 48222 where it will then be brought to your vessel for delivery.

Interestingly enough, the zip code, 48222, is actually assigned to the boat itself. Not the headquarters or any specific piece of land for that matter.

Has anyone ever heard of or actually used this service before?

UPDATE: Since writing this we’ve recieved number of emails and comments (see below) with regards to the J.W. Westcott Company. In fact, just today I received a nice message from a Cadet at Great Lakes Maritime Academy and I thought I’d post it here for all to read:

I’m a Cadet at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and we had several cadets receive mail aboard our Training ship the T/S State of Michigan last summer on their 2 month cruise.

Also have a friend sailing as an OS with Great Lakes Fleet on the Roger Blough who will probably get some christmas presents on the way back to Duluth, MN, since he will be on for the next 5 weeks.

Its a nice service for the guys running on the lakes to get some packages from home easily.

During the holiday it’s especially hard to be away from home and such a simple service as this makes being away that much easier.