Connaughton to Inspect Ships Docked in Suisun Bay

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the head of the Marad, Administrator Sean Connaughton will be in the Bay Area to take a look at the mothball fleet docked in Suisun Bay. The visit by Administrator Sean Connaughton comes as the agency seeks to scrap more than half the fleet. MarAd wants to tow the ships out of Suisun Bay to a scrapping facility in Texas.

Before the ships are allowed to be moved, they have to have their hulls cleaned to get rid of intrusive marine organisms. But the Coast Guard halted the ship disposal plan earlier this year when it learned the ships were being cleaned in San Francisco Bay. According to water officials, cleaning the ships in the bay without proper protection of maritime life violates the National Invasive Species Act.