Five More to Leave MarAd Reserve Fleet

Five ships moored in Virginia, California, and Texas will be headed to recycling yards under contracts announced today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration. Two of the ships are from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, Calif.; two are from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas; and one is from the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Va. Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton siad that plans worked out with Congress called for the removal of at least 13 ships from the fleet sites in 2006, and that the agency has almost doubled that number, removing 25. The ships scheduled for recycling include the Vulcan, a former Navy repair ship built in 1941, which will leave the James River site to be dismantled at Bay Bridge Enterprises, LLC, of Chesapeake, Va., under the terms of a contract worth $494,000. In 1978, the Vulcan was the first Navy ship on which women were deployed, except for hospital ships. The two ships from Suisun Bay are Queens Victory, a 1945-vintage Victory Ship, which will go to Esco Marine, Inc., of Brownsville, Texas, under terms of a contract work $1,180,000, and Jason, a Navy repair ship built in 1943, which will go to Marine Metal, Inc., of Brownsville, to be dismantled at a cost of $1, 426,035. The two ships from Beaumont will go to Esco Marine: Maumee, a tanker built in 1956, will be dismantled at a cost of $405,726, and Maryland, a container ship built in 1963, will be dismantled for $400,000. The companies have up to 45 days to remove the ships from the fleet sites.