MARAD OKs WATERMAN REQUEST TO SWAP EX-LASH SHIP FOR LYKES SHIPS

MARAD OKs WATERMAN REQUEST TO SWAP EX-LASH SHIP FOR LYKES SHIPS    The U.S. Maritime Administration has approved Waterman Steamship Corp.’s request to replace its former LASH (lighter aboard ship) Green Island with the containership Lykes Motivator under the Maritime Security Program.
   Waterman Steamship, a subsidiary of International Shipholding Corp., has recently scrapped its aging fleet of LASH vessels. The company operated three of these vessels under MSP.
   MSP was established by the 1996 Maritime Security Act to provide the Defense Department with immediate access to 47 commercial U.S.-flag ships in times of war and national emergency. The $2.1 million payment per ship annually helps the U.S.-flag vessel operators to offset their operations costs.
   “The approval is subject to the conditions that Waterman shall continue to maintain its status as a citizenship of the United States and the company enroll the Lykes Motivator in the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement,” MarAd said.
   The agency said that replacing the Green Island with the Lykes Motivator would also provide the MSP fleet with “a relatively new, efficient and militarily useful vessel.”