A UH-60 Black Hawk is raised from Military Sealift Command’s voyage-charter, general-purpose, heavy-lift vessel MV Ocean Grand at the pier in Sattahip, Thailand, Aug. 17, during an offload of equipment that will be used during exercise Hanuman Guardian 2018.
An aging and inactive government fleet dependent on a shrinking pool of merchant mariners to get underway is how a new report describes the U.S. military’s strategic sealift capability.
National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay, Calif. in 2014. US Navy
ARLINGTON, Va. — When U.S. Transportation Command tested the ability of the nation’s maritime Ready Reserve Force to set sail on short notice, only about 40 percent of the vessels deemed ready were able to leave port. Read More
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) transits the Strait of Hormuz on May 7, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Navy pays a steep price keeping an aircraft carrier with escorts on station to deter attacks on oil tanker traffic operating in and around the Persian Gulf as part of the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, according to a new report. The ongoing carrier operations in the region are not only pricey for the U.S. Navy but also creates the potential to disrupt energy markets if a confrontation escalates. Read More
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NORFOLK (Sept. 21, 2019) Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessel USNS Benavidez (T-AKR 306), departs Lambert’s Point Shipyard alongside USNS Mendonca (T-AKR 303) for Turbo Activation. Navy photo
Running dark and nearly silent, last month a convoy of Military Sealift Command ships practiced delivering people and gear to the fight as part of a large U.S. Transportation Command surge sealift capability stress test.
RRF vessel SS Cornhusker State off the coast of Haiti, February 2010. MARAD Photo
This post was updated to properly identify the Ready Reserve Force. An earlier version included an incorrect title of the force.
THE PENTAGON — U.S. Transportation Command started the largest turbo activation of the Ready Reserve Force since 2003 to stress-test the military’s ability to quickly deploy the cargo ships required for a massive troop movement.
Coast Guard rescuers extract one of four crew members trapped for more than 34 hours inside a capsized cargo vessel near Brunswick, Ga. Coast Guard photo
The Coast Guard rescued four mariners trapped for more than 34 hours inside a capsized 656-foot-long cargo vessel in St. Simons Sound, just outside the port of Brunswick, Ga., on Monday
World War II Merchant Marine recruiting poster.
The Maritime Administration’s top official warns of “a bleed-off of talent” in the merchant fleet because there are fewer ships for each year’s maritime academy graduates to serve on and even fewer chances of a long career.
A crew member of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw keeps a lookout before the ship’s departure for icebreaking operations on Whitefish Bay and Lake Superior ahead of the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie Locks March 25th, the start of this year’s shipping season. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Maritime Administration’s top official challenged critics of the Jones Act to prove the law’s requirement for having American-made ships with American crews is the “source of all evil” causing prices to increase for goods, minerals and food shipped by sea or inland waterways.
Sailors aboard USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) render aid to the crew of the M/V Kokuka Courageous on June 13, 2019 in the Gulf of Oman. US Navy Photo
This post will be updated with additional information as it becomes available.
Two U.S. guided-missile destroyers are aiding a merchant ship that was damaged in an alleged attack by Iranian sectarian forces on Thursday, U.S. 5th Fleet officials told USNI News on Friday. Read More
Screenshot of a US Navy video in which US Central Command claims Iranian forces are captured removing a limpet mine from Kokuka Courageous on June 13, 2019.
This post has been updated with a new statement from U.S. Central Command.
U.S. Central Command has released a video and photographs that officials say prove the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy attacked two merchant tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. Read More
