The US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration is paying nearly US$4m for the demolition of five Reserve Fleet vessels. Five ships moored in Virginia, California, and Texas will be headed to US demolition yards under contracts agreed by MARAD. Two of the ships are from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in Benicia, California; two are from the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas; and one is from the James River Reserve Fleet in Newport News, Virginia.
“These recycling contracts are good for the economy, and removing ships from our fleet sites is good for the environment,” said Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton. He noted 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.