Reserve Fleet News

Royal Van der Leun, based in the Netherlands, announced it will supply equipment for a new hopper dredge being built by Eastern Shipbuilding Group in Panama City, Fla., for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).Scheduled for delivery in 2027, the 320-foot vessel, with a hopper capacity of 6,000 cubic yards will join the USACE’s Ready Reserve Fleet, replacing the USACE Philadelphia District's high-powered deep draft hopper dredge McFarland, built in 1967.For the design, Eastern worked with longtime partner Royal IHC, headquartered in the Netherlands.

Founded as the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and renamed Military Sealift Command in 1970, MSC today not only support the Navy, but we are the Department of Defense's provider of all sealift. Maritime Reporter & Engineering News recently interviewed Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, U.S. Navy, for insights on the service today and it’s needs to grow in the future.What makes MSC so vital to the Navy’s fleet and our military forces around the world?When we  look at the history of contested logistics in World War II…

Regardless of whether the Republicans seize or the Democrats maintain control of the House and Senate, there is a guarantee that changes in leadership will occur in some of the key Congressional leadership positions that will impact the maritime industry. Two of the most significant Congressional committees of jurisdiction are the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (House T&I) and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce). Both committees have jurisdiction over the U.S.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Ann C. Phillips as Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), filling a position that has been left vacant at the Department of Transportation (DOT) since January 2021. Phillips was confirmed by a vote of 75-22.Phillips, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, takes over as head of the DOT's maritime agency amid continued shipping and supply chain disruption as well as historic levels of government funding for maritime and port infrastructure projects. She succeeds Mark Buzby, who resigned from the role in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S.

The America’s Marine Highways Program is one of several grant programs administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to promote more effective use of the nation’s navigable waterways. This particular program was established by Congress in 2007 to provide grants for projects that would promote water-borne alternatives to available landside transportation services, especially for freight carried by trucks.Consistent with this specific goal, the program’s statutory authority…

Philly Shipyard has received an order from the U.S.-based ship management company TOTE Services for the construction of one additional National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV), following the authorization by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).This marks the fifth and final NSMV in the training ship series. The modern vessel will replace the aging training vessel at California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California.Construction of the new vessel (NSMV 5) is expected to start in 2023.

Crowley Maritime Corporation announced it has managed the first vessel acquisition under its contract to help recapitalize a sealift fleet with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD).In 2021, Crowley was awarded a multi-year vessel acquisition and management (VAM) contract to help recapitalize MARAD's Ready Reserve Force (RRF). It is now spearheading the acquisition and conversion of two vehicle carriers from American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group in collaboration with Stena RoRo, Serco and LCE (Life Cycle Engineering).The first vessel to be acquired, Honor, will be followed by Freedom.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the $1.5 billion Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus appropriations package that includes a funding provision for the California State University Maritime Academy's new state-of-the-art training ship.The newly funded ship, which has yet to be named, is the fifth in a series of 524.5-foot-long National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV) designed specifically for America's state maritime academies. It will replace Cal Maritime's aging training…

President Joe Biden intends to nominate Ann Phillips to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) at the Department of Transportation (DOT), the White House announced Thursday. The position has been vacant since Mark Buzby resigned from the role in the wake of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January.If confirmed, Phillips, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and currently the first Special Assistant to the Governor of Virginia for Coastal Adaptation and Protection…

New Lighting Technology offers bright ideas for better interior and exterior lighting that saves money, manpowerThe U.S. Navy is leaving traditional lighting behind for Solid State Lighting (SSL) with very long-life solid-state light-emitting diode (LED) lighting. Technology has illuminated new ways to light ships that are safer, more efficient and more affordable. Taking advantage of the new technology has its challenges, such as finding cost effective lighting that is rugged…

The development and construction of multimission vessels (MMVs) remains active across the maritime market.The ability to perform multiple tasks when those different duties are needed is central to an MMV’s value. Multimission capabilities mean that an expensive asset doesn’t sit idle when it isn’t being used for a singular purpose, such as firefighting. This is particularly important for public sector officials who have to weigh costs and benefits across a wide range of demands…

For professional maritime training, the 2020 holiday season was bright indeed. In a world clutching for optimism, officials from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) made a series of announcements that will strengthen, expand and intensify America’s maritime academic programs—really the maritime industry—for at least the next decade, likely much longer. Consider this string of news:On December 15, MARAD announced cutting steel for the first new National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) at Philly Shipyard Inc.…

Philly Shipyard on Wednesday marked the start of fabrication for the second of five planned National Security Multi-Mission Vessels (NSMV). The purpose-built, state-of-the-art training ships will be used by America’s state maritime academies.The first steel plates cut by the yard’s state-of-the-art plasma cutting machine will be later joined into a double bottom, mid-ship section.The occasion was marked by a brief steel cutting ceremony attended by representatives from Philly Shipyard, TOTE Services and U.S.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) is seeking the public's help in determining the future of the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship.The NS Savannah was built by New York Shipbuilding Corp. and launched in 1959 as part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace Program to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The ship was removed from service in 1971 and the reactor was defueled. Registered as a National Historic Landmark since 1991, the ship is currently part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) in retention status.

The American shipbuilding scene, filled with participants constructing all manner of vessels, has been navigating through stormy times (lately, yards along the Gulf Coast have literally been dealing with storms). The orders for newbuild, repair and conversion projects continue to flow in—albeit at a reduced pace—and the boats and ships go down the ways into the water, but the overall panorama has seen tremendous sea changes as the business has shifted.Maritime businesses worldwide have been grappling with currents both internal and external.

It's the end of the line for decommissioned barge carrier SS Cape Florida, which recently arrived at a scrapyard in the Port of Brownsville in Texas for recycling.International Shipbreaking LLC, (ISL) part of EMR, has been awarded a U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) contract to transport, strip and recycle the decommissioned vessel, which has been out of service since 2006.After being awarded the contract on July 6, ISL made preparations to tow the Cape Florida from MARAD Ready Reserve Fleet in Beaumont…

The United Seamen’s Service  announced that U.S. Secretary of Transportation, The Honorable Elaine L. Chao, will receive the 2019 Admiral of the Ocean Sea Award based on her career-long commitment to the maritime industry. The other, previously announced recipients are James Given, President of the Seafarers International Union of Canada; Anil Mathur, President and CEO of Alaska Tanker Corp.; and Joseph Pyne, Chairman of the Board of the Kirby Corporation.The award will be presented at the 50th annual AOTOS gala at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, New York City, on November 1, 2019.

Merchant mariner numbers may be at a low in the U.S., but the men and women of the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) have increased their operating days by 245 percent from Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 to FY 2017.This year’s missions have included some of the largest ammunition movements since the Vietnam War – which the RRF crane ships are exceptionally cut out for; unit resupply to various theaters around the world, and movement of rotating forces including supporting the Canadian military.

The privately owned U.S.-flag foreign trading fleet, which is an essential component of U.S. sealift capability, stands on the edge of a precipice. The fleet – roughly stable in terms of cargo carrying capacity from 2000 to 2012 – has declined from 106 vessels in 2012 to 78 vessels at October 30, 2016 primarily because of a substantial decline in available U.S. Government-reserved cargo. The size of the fleet has reached a point where the viability of the U.S.-flag industry involved in foreign trade – including its trained mariners…

Part II in a two-part series, continued from the January 2017 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. Read Part I here. If reliance on the foreign commercial market is risky because of uncertain reliability, then what of U.S. Government ownership of a fleet of vessels? That has also been on the menu since the early 20th century. President Woodrow Wilson proposed in September 1914 that the U.S. Government acquire commercial cargo vessels. Congress disagreed, which delayed enactment of the President’s proposal until the Shipping Act, 1916. A compromise was struck to permit U.S. Government ownership as a war time measure – but all vessels so acquired had to be sold to private owners within five years of the end of the war.

Maritime Administration Executive Director Joel Szabat joined federal, state and local officials and environmental groups to mark the completion of an agreement to remove 57 non-retention vessels from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet (SBRF) by September 30, 2017. The departure of the Cape Borda for recycling reaches the milestone two months ahead of schedule. “Our progress in Suisun Bay is the result of hard work and smart collaboration,” said the Maritime Administration’s Executive Director Joel Szabat. “There is perhaps no greater symbol of the maritime industry’s environmental progress than what has been accomplished here. In 2009, MARAD entered an agreement with local officials and environmental groups to expedite disposal of 57 non-retention SBRF vessels…

The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) has activated two National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) vessels for a pre-scripted Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mission to support relief efforts in Texas. The State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College’s training ship, Empire State VI, and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s  training ship, Kennedy, have received orders to set sail within 10 days for the four- to five-day transit from the east coast to the gulf coast of Texas. MARAD also received notification from FEMA to activate the Texas Maritime Academy’s training vessel General Rudder, which will remain in-port at Galveston.

A Center of Excellence designation would allow San Jacinto College to expand maritime training. San Jacinto College is one step closer to having a Maritime Center of Excellence. The U.S. Senate recently voted to approve maritime workforce centers of excellence legislation as part of the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This follows a vote made by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year to approve the legislation. While there are slight differences between the House-passed maritime workforce centers of excellence provision and the Senate-passed provision…