MSC Kicks Off Crisis Response Exercise
combat equipment and supplies at four commercial ports throughout Europe. armed forces to continental Europe. In the event of a major mobilization of U.S. military cargo overseas, 95 percent would be deployed by sea. At MSC Europe, naval reservists support sealift requirements throughout the year and are key players during wartime or other contingencies. with sealift operations wherever needed. During this exercise, port offices were established at Rota, Spain; Bremerhaven, Germany; Augusta Bay, Italy; Livorno, Italy; and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. wide-variety of functions to support MSC ships, such as on-load and off-load operations, shore services, ship repairs and on-site personnel support.
Columbia Coastal Transport Joins MARAD’s VISA Program
Columbia Coastal Transport, LLC, has been notified by Maritime Administrator, Captain William G. Schubert, that its application was approved for MARAD’s Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) program. Its acceptance into the VISA program allows Columbia Coastal to receive top-tier award priority for Department of Defense peacetime cargo. Columbia Coastal has also completed the contingency contracts for both the Military Traffic Management Command and Military Sealift Command which dictate terms and rates in the eventits vessels are utilized in time of war. “All of Columbia Coastal’s 14 barges are committed into the VISA program,” said Mr. Donovan Murray, General Manager Government Affairs at Columbia Coastal.
NC Coast Guard Establishes Security Zone
Coast Guard Captain of the Port of Wilmington, Captain Jane M. Hartley, has brought in more than 100 Coast Guard active duty and reserve personnel to provide waterborne and shoreside safety and security of military equipment loading operations here and in Morehead, City, N.C. The United States is repositioning some of its military forces where required to support the President’s global war on terrorism and to prepare for future contingencies. One of the Coast Guards responsibilities, as the lead agency for maritime homeland security and as a branch of the Armed Forces, is to ensure the safety and security of military outloads in U.S. ports. The Coast Guard has established a security zone in Morehead City to run between Jan.
Sealift Ship To Be Christened Benavidez At Avondale
The seventh and final Strategic Sealift ship in the BOB HOPE Class will be christened BENAVIDEZ in ceremonies at the Northrop Grumman Corporation Avondale shipyard Saturday, July 21, 2001, beginning at 10 a.m. The new ship will be named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Army Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez, of Lindenau, Tex. Benavidez distinguished himself in a series of daring and extremely valorous actions while in the Republic of Vietnam assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, U.S. Army. On May 2, 1968, while a Staff Sgt., Benavidez voluntarily led the emergency extraction of a 12-man special…
Port of Philadelphia Designated as Military Seaport
Pennsylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker today accepted the formal orders from the Department of Defense designating the Port of Philadelphia as a Strategic Military Seaport. "This designation is yet another historic moment for Pennsylvania and the Port of Philadelphia," Gov. Schweiker said. "The port has played a vital role in our nation's security since the days of the Revolutionary War, and it will do so again as America faces new challenges in a post-Sept. The designation was made by the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) and the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). Strategic Military Seaports are designated to support major force deployments during the times of national security needs under one or more national defense contingency plans.
