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News

MARAD 27-03 Contact: Robyn Boerstling

Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Tel.: (202) 366-5807

One for Texas: Another Ship Departs James River Fleet

The fifth ship to leave the James River Fleet since September, the 1967-vintage cargo ship Santa Elena was towed from Newport News, Virginia, today to be dismantled at the International Shipbreaking, LTD., facility, in Brownsville, Texas.

The James River Reserve Fleet is maintained by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. For the past 10 years, very few ships left the fleet, but MARAD has recently developed an aggressive plan to remove high-priority vessels. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta praised the combination of determination by the Bush Administration and a long-awaited appropriation from Congress that made it possible for the MARAD to move the ships out.

"The responsible disposal of obsolete ships is a high priority for the Department of Transportation," said Secretary Mineta. "The Bush administration has met this challenge, and the departure of this latest ship is an important measure of our progress."

"It's encouraging to see a stream of ships finally moving out of the James River site," said Maritime Administrator Captain William G. Schubert.

So far this year, in addition to the contract with ISL, the U.S. Maritime Administration has awarded the following contracts for removal of ships from its fleet:

ESCO Marine of Brownsville, Texas, was awarded a contract for one ship, $1,449,725.
Marine Metals of Brownsville, Texas, was awarded a contract for one ship, $414,768, and it has also dismantled another ship, for which it was awarded a contract in 2002.
Post-Service Remediation Partners (PRP) of New York, New York (now a subsidiary of AbleUK): 15 ships, $14,846,338.
Bay Bridge Enterprises of Chesapeake, Virginia, was awarded a contract for five ships, $2,763,082.
Resolve Marine Group, Port Everglade, Florida, was awarded a contract for one ship, the Albert E. Watts, located in Mobile Bay, Alabama, $3,465,779.

Twenty four ships either have been removed or scheduled for removal from MARAD's fleet this year, 23 of them from the James River Reserve Fleet. MARAD is acting on a statutory deadline of September 30, 2006 to dispose of these obsolete ships in a manner that provides the best value to the government and without predisposition for foreign or domestic facilities.

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