Category Archives: Merchant Marine

Report: U.S. Sealift Lacks Personnel, Hulls, National Strategy

Report: U.S. Sealift Lacks Personnel, Hulls, National Strategy

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.

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Report: U.S. Shoulders Steep Price to Protect Merchant Ships in Strait Of Hormuz

Report: U.S. Shoulders Steep Price to Protect Merchant Ships in Strait Of Hormuz

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

TRANSCOM Stress Test Practiced Cargo Delivery Through Mine- and Sub-Filled Waters

TRANSCOM Stress Test Practiced Cargo Delivery Through Mine- and Sub-Filled Waters

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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.

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TRANSCOM Running Largest Ready Reserve Force Stress Test Since 2003

TRANSCOM Running Largest Ready Reserve Force Stress Test Since 2003

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.

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Coast Guard Rescues Four Mariners From Capsized Cargo Vessel

Coast Guard Rescues Four Mariners From Capsized Cargo Vessel

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

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Jones Act Not The Cause Of Higher Shipping Costs Supporters Say

Jones Act Not The Cause Of Higher Shipping Costs Supporters Say

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.

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Two U.S. Warships in Gulf of Oman Supporting Damaged Tanker

Two U.S. Warships in Gulf of Oman Supporting Damaged Tanker

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

U.S. Releases Video of Alleged Gulf of Oman Tanker Attacks

U.S. Releases Video of Alleged Gulf of Oman Tanker Attacks

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