RRF Ship Completes Readiness Activation Exercise

MARAD announced that the SS Cape Flattery completed readiness activation exercises. The ship was berthed in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet. Schubert said, "Readiness exercises such as these keep our ships in shape to provide the support our Armed Forces need. Forty ships of the RRF provided sealift for the Iraqi conflict, and they had an operational reliability record of 98 percent. Success like that comes with practice." Turbo Activations, sponsored and monitored by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Transportation Command, are made without notice. For these exercises, RRF ships are directed to shift from their assigned readiness status of 4, 5, 10 or 20 days to a fully crewed status, with the quarters made habitable and cargo gear ready. Activations are often followed immediately by a sea trial. The SS Cape Flattery was successfully prepared for delivery to the Military Sealift Command within its readiness time frame of 10 days. The ship is a C9-S-81b Lighter-Aboard-Ship (LASH) vessel. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) maintains the RRF, which is a fleet of 68 militarily useful ships. This fleet, located throughout the country, is maintained in a reserve status in the event that the Department of Defense needs these ships to support the rapid, massive movement of military supplies and troops for a military exercise or large-scale conflict. The ships are managed by commercial companies and crewed by civilian merchant mariners. Pacific Gulf Marine, Inc. of New Orleans is the ship manager for this vessel.