Maersk Line buys two U.S.-flag combination ships

Maersk Line buys two U.S.-flag combination ships Maersk Line Ltd., an affiliate of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, said it has purchased two U.S.-flag general cargo and roll-on/roll-off combination ships that had been formerly been operating under long-term charter to the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command.
   The company will now operate the ships commercially, serving the U.S. charter and preference cargo spot markets.
   The ships were originally built in the late 1970s, and then underwent extensive renovation for use in the U.S. Marine Corps’ Maritime Pre-positioning Ship Program.
   Earlier this year the Military Sealift Command elected to end the charter for the two ships, the Pfc. William B. Baugh and Pvt. Franklin J. Phillips and decided to deliver them to their private owners, who then offered them for sale. According to the Maritime Administration, they were owned by the Wilmington Trust Co.
   The ships will be renamed the Maersk Texas and Maersk Tennessee. Both ships will continue to be crewed in all licensed and unlicensed positions by U.S. mariners from American Maritime Officers and Seafarers International Union.
   With the completion of this deal Maersk Line Ltd. manages a total of 28 ships for the government, 32 in its U.S.-flag commercial fleet, and five foreign-flag vessels.