Costa Concordia Arrives Genoa for Demolition
Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary TITAN Salvage and project partner Micoperi has confirmed that the Costa Concordia – the Concordia-class cruise ship that wrecked off Giglio Island, Italy in January 2012 – is safely moored at the Port of Genoa Voltri, Italy, marking what they describe as the completion of the largest maritime salvage job in history. Towing the disabled ship from the Tuscan Archipelago to the Mediterranean seaport of Genoa was a remarkably delicate task that required a convoy of more than a dozen support vessels, including two tugboats with a combined 24,000 horsepower and 275 tons of bollard pull at the bow for the hull, and two additional auxiliary tugs positioned aft.
U.S. DOT Recycles Two More JRRF Ships
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.
82nd Vessel Departs James River Reserve Fleet
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.
DOT Sells Two More Ships for Recycling
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.
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.
James River Ship Sold For Recycling
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.
