Two More Ships to Depart Suisun Bay Fleet
The departures mark the 22nd and 23rd ships to leave the National Defense Reserve Fleet since October 2009, when the Obama Administration announced its commitment to clean up the site and improve the surrounding environment. As a result, the U.S. Maritime Administration is more than four months ahead of schedule in removing obsolete U.S. ships from the Reserve Fleet. The disposal schedule calls for 20 ships to be removed from SBRF by September 30, 2011. The Bolster, formerly the USS Bolster (ARS-38)…
MARAD Recycles 3 More Ships
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.
Five More to Leave MarAd Reserve Fleet
Five ships moored in Virginia, California, and Texas will be headed to recycling yards under contracts announced today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. Two of the ships are from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, Calif.; two are from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas; and one is from the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Va. Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton siad that plans worked out with Congress called for the removal of at least 13 ships from the fleet sites in 2006, and that the agency has almost doubled that number, removing 25. The ships scheduled for recycling include the Vulcan…
MarAd Announces More Disposal Contracts
The U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) has signed contracts for the disposal of four ships from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet at Benicia, CA, bringing to nine the number that have left the facility for recycling since October 2005. The four ships are World War II-vintage Victory ships: Hannibal Victory, the Barnard Victory, the Occidental Victory and the Sioux Falls Victory. When ships are no longer considered useful for defense or aid missions, MARAD arranges for their proper disposal and works closely with the Coast Guard to ensure the safe transport of the vessels to their final destinations. Before towing from the fleet, all ships are inspected by an independent party.
