James River Reserve Fleet News

Maritime Administration Executive Director Joel Szabat joined federal, state and local officials and environmental groups to mark the completion of an agreement to remove 57 non-retention vessels from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF) by September 30, 2017. The departure of the Cape Borda for recycling reaches the milestone two months ahead of schedule. “Our progress in Suisun Bay is the result of hard work and smart collaboration,” said the Maritime Administration’s Executive Director Joel Szabat. “There is perhaps no greater symbol of the maritime industry’s environmental progress than what has been accomplished here. In 2009, MARAD entered an agreement with local officials and environmental groups to expedite disposal of 57 non-retention SBRF vessels…

On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, the USS Yellowstone - a National Defense Reserve Fleet non-retention vessel is scheduled to depart the James River Reserve Fleet in Fort Eustis, Virginia for recycling at ESCO Marine, Inc. in Brownsville, Texas.    The Yellowstone, a former U.S. Navy tender (AD-41), was built by NASSCO Shipyard in San Diego, California and commissioned in 1980. The vessel supported operations during Desert Shield and Desert Storm before the U.S. Navy decommissioned the vessel in 1996.

U.S. Transportation Secretary visits Suisun Bay in Northern California to celebrate surpassing administration's goal for recycling. Ray LaHood, US Transportation Secretary visited Shuisun Bay for the occasion. In 2010, the Department’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) committed to removing 28 ships from the fleet by September 30, 2012. To date, MARAD has removed 36 ships, with three more vessels scheduled for removal by the end of the year. “Three years ago, the Department of Transportation promised to get rid of the ships that posed a threat to the environment, and I am proud to announce today that we are delivering on that promise,” said Secretary LaHood.

The ex-USNS Benjamin Isherwood (T-AO-191) and the ex-USNS Henry Eckford (T-AO-192) are scheduled to depart from the James River Reserve on July 12 and July 19, respectively. They will be towed to Brownsville, TX, for recycling at the ISL ship breaking facility. The vessels are the fifth and sixth ships built in the 18-ship Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet of replenishment oilers of the United States Navy. The two vessels were constructed at the Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After the vessel contracts were cancelled, they were eventually towed to the James River Reserve Fleet in late 1994, the only two ships of the 18-ship Henry J. Kaiser class not to be completed.

The combination container vessel SS Ohio is scheduled to depart the Beaumont Reserve Fleet on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. The vessel was recently sold for recycling to ESCO Marine, Inc. and its departure will reduce the number of non-retention vessels awaiting disposal from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet to eight. The Ohio was built in 1967 as a combination railway car/container-carrying vessel for Seatrain Lines, Inc. of New York. Named Seatrain Ohio, the vessel was constructed by recombining modified sections from three WWII T2 class tankers. The ship was the last of seven such converted vessels that were fitted with tracks and other special equipment so that railcars could move directly from the docks into the ship’ holds. The ship spent its active career on charter to the U.S.

Leveraging the strength of Titan's 300-metric ton linear hydraulic pullers, Titan safely refloated the Monongahela, a decommissioned tanker ship on the James River in Virginia last week. The salvage team, led by Capt. Guy Wood, executed several test pulls on the tanker before last week's successful refloating to verify the holding power of the anchors being used and to help with the determination of refloating calculations. The three pullers were secured to the Monongahela's flight deck with 1…

Acting Maritime Administrator David Matsuda announced that the Monongahela, one of the government-owned obsolete ships stored at the James River Fleet, was successfully refloated this morning after being aground since Nov. 13. The ship was refloated during high tide at 11:00 a.m. this morning. The Monongahela ran aground after a three day storm with hurricane force winds caused the vessel to break free of its mooring and drift into shallow water. “The Maritime Administration took extraordinary and careful measures to free this ship,” said Administrator Matsuda. The Maritime Administration contracted with Titan Salvage to get the ship free.

TITAN Salvage has been retained to handle salvage of the Monongahela, a decommissioned tanker ship that broke loose from its moorings on the night of Nov. 12. The tanker ship, which is part of the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF), was affected by a severe storm and unusually high water surges in the James River and nearby vicinity when it was wind driven aground on soft soil, approximately one-half mile downstream of the JRRF near the western bank of the river. TITAN has completed hydrographic surveys for use in the finite salvage calculations required for a salvage plan.

The U. S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has awarded contracts to recycle two more of the obsolete government-owned ships, which are currently moored in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) in Virginia. The two ships being recycled are the Escape and the Cape Cod. These two vessels will be the 83rd and 84th ships to leave the JRRF since 2001. The Escape (ARS-6) was built as a Navy rescue ship in 1942 by Basalt Rock Co. in Napa, Calif. The vessel supported the nation's "Mercury" manned spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The Escape will be recycled at Bay Bridge Enterprises, LLC, of Chesapeake, Va., at a cost to the federal government of $115,200. The Cape Cod (AK-5041) was built as a break-bulk cargo ship in 1962 by Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Md.

The Resolute is scheduled to depart the James River Reserve Fleet Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in transit to Esco Marine, Inc., in Brownsville, Texas for recycling. Resolute, a partial container/ break-bulk ship built in 1980, brought a purchase price of $90,726. The vessel is expected to pass under the James River Bridge approximately two hours after the departure. However, be advised that tow times and passage times vary widely depending on weather and other conditions. The approximate travel time to Texas is 14 days. The Maritime Administration stores ships at three National Defense Reserve Fleet sites: the James River in Virginia, Beaumont in Texas, and the Suisun Bay in California.

The Gage departed the James River Reserve Fleet in transit to Esco Marine, Inc., in Brownsville, Texas for recycling.  The approximate travel time to Texas is 14 days.

The Ortolan departed the James River Reserve Fleet at 9:50 a.m. on July 20 in transit to Esco Marine, Inc., in Brownsville, Texas for recycling.  The approximate travel time to Texas is 14 days.  The Ortolan is the 80th ship to leave the James River Reserve Fleet since January 1, 2001.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold two ships for recycling to Esco Ltd. of Brownsville, Texas for a total of $171,452. Resolute, a partial container/breakbulk ship built in 1980, brought a purchase price of $90,726. Resolute is currently moored at the James River Reserve Fleet site in Newport News, Va. Gulf Farmer, a breakbulk cargo ship built in 1964, brought a purchase price of $80,726. Gulf Farmer is at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in Texas. Both ships, which are to leave their respective fleet sites within 30 days, are to be recycled, which is the most common method of ship disposal used by the Maritime Administration. When a ship is recycled the recycler often salvages and sells metal and other materials.

The U. S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has signed fee-for-service contracts to recycle three more of its obsolete ships. Two ships, the Hattiesburg Victory and the Pioneer Contractor, are from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas, and one, the oiler Savannah, is from the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia. The Maritime Administration has moved 118 ships out of its National Defense Reserve Fleet sites since 2001. With the contracts announced today, there are only 24 ships left in the James River waiting to be disposed of and without disposal contracts, and 10 such ships in the Beaumont site. The Hattiesburg Victory is one of the few remaining Victory ships built during World War II to carry cargo needed by U.S. forces all over the world.

Flying the Greek flag, the Hellas Liberty, formerly known as the Arthur M. Huddell, has safely reached the port of Piraeus in Greece after leaving Norfolk, Virginia, on December 6, 2008. Until July 2008, the World War II-era Huddell was the last Liberty ship in the Maritime Administration’s National Defense Reserve Fleet., and was moored in the James River Reserve Fleet site at Fort Eustis. The ship was cleaned at a Norfolk shipyard before being towed to Greece. American shipyards built 2,751 Liberty ships during World War II, in the largest shipbuilding effort in history. Liberty ships crewed by merchant mariners carried troops and military cargo all over the world. The building and sailing of the Liberty ships, and their successors, the Victory ships, were overseen by the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold a ship for recycling to Bay Bridge Enterprises of Chesapeake, Va. The Milwaukee, an AOR2-class oiler built in 1969 at the General Dynamics shipyard in Quincy, Mass, brought a purchase price of $56,410. “Even with the recent drop in worldwide scrap steel prices, we continue to move obsolete ships out of the James River,” said Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton, noting that the departure of Milwaukee will bring to 78 the number of ships removed from the James River site at Fort Eustis since January 1, 2001. The purchase contract for Milwaukee means that there will soon be only 25 obsolete ships left at the site without contracts for disposal.

The Department of Transportation announced that the last of ’s famous ships, the Arthur M. Huddell, will be towed from the James River Reserve Fleet site at , , to , on July 28, to prepare the World War II-era vessel for a cross-Atlantic tow to its new homeport in . Greek officials say the ship will become a merchant marine museum of that nation’s shipping industry. While in , the Huddell will be berthed at the W3 Marine facility while the cross-Atlantic tow-prep is performed by a local Hampton Roads marine services company.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration announced today that it has sold two obsolete ships to American salvage companies for more than $1 million each. The sale of these two vessels from the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) near Fort Eustis, Va., each exceed the agency’s ship-disposal program’s recent record-setting price fetched by the sale of the Adonis, which last March sold for $1,151,727. Agency contracting officials report that the has been sold to Esco Marine, Inc., of , , for $1,465,726; and the Truckee has been sold to Bay Bridge Enterprises, L.L.C., of , for $1,231,328. Three other obsolete government-owned ships are also being sold for a combined price of nearly $1.5 million.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has signed contracts totaling $1,136,106 for the recycling of three obsolete ships from its reserve fleets. All three ships will be recycled at the Esco Marine facility in Brownsville, Texas. Two of the ships, Cape Catoche and Cape Carthage, are in the James River Reserve Fleet site at Fort Eustis in Virginia. When they depart the James River site for recycling, they will be the 68th and 69th ships to do so since January of 2001. The third ship, Del Viento, is in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas. The Maritime Administration keeps ships in three National Defense Reserve Fleet sites to support Armed Forces movements and to respond to national emergencies.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold a ship from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet for more than $1million, the first time under the current program that a ship has brought such a price. International Shipbreaking, Ltd., in , , will pay $1,151,727 for the ship Adonis, now moored at the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in . Three other government-owned, obsolete ships are also being sold to the company for an additional $173,297: the , the and the Buyer. These sales stand in contrast to most ship disposal contracts in recent years, which have involved the federal government paying to have its obsolete ships recycled.

Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton signed a Memorandum of Understanding with representatives of the Government of Greece to pursue an agreement to transfer the ship Arthur M. Huddell to the Greek government for use as a museum. The World War II-era Huddell is the last ship in the Maritime Administration’s fleet. It is currently moored in the James River Reserve Fleet site at . "It is great to be able to save a bit of history from both our nations," said Connaughton. American shipyards built 2,751 ships during World War II, in the largest shipbuilding effort in history. ships crewed by merchant mariners carried troops and military cargo all over the world. The building and sailing of the ships, and their successors, the Victory Ships, were overseen by the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration is asking for public comment on its Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the admittance, maintenance and disposal of vessels at the National Defense Reserve Fleet sites it operates. The Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov for the next 45 days. The Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment includes options for cleaning and maintaining ships, and for setting standards for the condition of ships that enter the fleet in the future. The Maritime Administration currently has 244 ships in the National Defense Reserve Fleet to support Armed Forces movements and to respond to national emergencies.

The Arthur M. Huddell  was towed from the James River Reserve Fleet on July 8. It will be the 72nd  ship to depart the site since January of 2001.  The Huddell is the last of the ships in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.  The Huddell is being towed to the W3 Marine facility in , where preparations will be made to transfer it to .  Greek authorities plan to make it into a museum.