Crowley Wins Military Sealift Command Contract
Military Sealift Command operation and maintenance contracted awarded to Crowley Maritime
Crowley Maritime Corp.’s global ship management group has been has been awarded the contract for the operation and maintenance of the T-AGOS/T-AGM fleet for the Military Sealift Command. This fleet of seven ships supports the Navy’s Surveillance Towed Array Sensor Systems (SURTASS) operations; the U.S. Air Force's dual-band, phased array and parabolic dish radars; and other government research missions.
The contract covers the operation and maintenance of five T-AGOS and up to two T-AGM ocean surveillance ships. Crowley will provide personnel; operational and technical support (ashore and afloat); equipment; tools; provisions, and supplies to operate this fleet of seven United States Naval Ships (USNS).
“The issuance of this contract is well-matched with Crowley’s capabilities, not only in the company’s ability to manage specialized vessels, but also in providing the U.S. Government with a variety of maritime services,” said Todd Busch, Crowley's senior vice president and general manager, technical services. “The very nature of the T-AGOS/T-AGM missions demand sophisticated top management solutions and talented crews that Crowley offers. We are pleased to continue services to the Military Sealift Command and look forward to future opportunities to support the government.”
The T-AGOS fleet includes USNS Victorious, USNS Loyal, USNS Effective, USNS Impeccable and USNS Able. The T-AGM fleet includes the USNS Invincible and USNS Howard O. Lorenzen. All seven ships use SURTASS equipment to gather undersea acoustic data around the world in support of anti-submarine warfare operations. The ships also carry electronic equipment to process and transmit data via satellite to shore stations for evaluation. Victorious is built on a small waterplane, twin-hull, or SWATH, design for greater stability at slow speeds in high latitudes under adverse weather conditions. Impeccable has a hull form based on that of Victorious, but has a more powerful propulsion plant and is designed specifically for deploying an additional active towed-array system.
Crowley said the contract will result in additional job opportunities being made available for crew members with experience on these types of vessels, as well as shore side positions, such as engineers and contracting professionals.