U.S. Ships Bring Water to Tsunami-Stricken Islands
Two Military Sealift Command (MSC) prepositioning ships, MV 1st Lt. Jack Lummus (T-AK 3011) and MV 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman (T-AK 3002), completed a 10-day tsunami relief operation Feb. 1 in the Republic of Maldives as part of Operation Unified Assistance. Lummus and Bonnyman belong to Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron 3, a group of 11 ships deployed to the Guam/Saipan area laden with enough cargo to sustain a Marine Expeditionary Brigade for 30 days. Together, the ships delivered more than 100,000 gallons of water, $3,000 of medical supplies and more than 20 tons of food. The Maldives is a string of more than 1,000 islands located 2,000 nautical miles east from the Dec. 26 earthquake's epicenter.
NNS Wins Two Ship Repair Contracts
Newport News Shipbuilding has been awarded two separate contracts for ship repair work. The first award is for the M/V 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman, a Military Sealift Command (MSC) pre-positioning ship chartered through Maersk Lines. Work being performed on the ship includes hull blasting and painting; tank blasting and painting; overhaul of deck cranes; survey and repair of main propulsion equipment; repair of machinery components; cargo equipment refurbishment; and deck equipment survey and repair. The ship is 755 ft. long with a beam of 90 ft. Bonnyman arrived at NNS on Oct. 1 and will remain at the company for approximately a month. NNS also performed work on this ship in 1995 and 1997. The second contract is for the SS Cape Nome. A MARAD cargo ship, Cape Nome arrived at Newport News on Oct.
