MARAD TO ESTABLISH VESSEL SCRAPPING PROGRAM

MARAD TO ESTABLISH VESSEL SCRAPPING PROGRAM    The U.S. Maritime Administration is taking steps to establish a long-term scrapping program to dispose of obsolete vessels in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
   Thirty-nine priority vessels, most of which are in the James River Reserve Fleet in Norfolk, Va., will be the first in line to be scrapped.
   MarAd intends to issue a draft proposal request for industry participation during the second quarter of fiscal year 2001.
   In the meantime, MarAd is inviting industry comments regarding the formulation of the request for proposal. MarAd plans to organize site visits to give the industry a chance to view the obsolete ships. Notification of the scheduled visits will be released at a later date, MarAd said.
   Comments may be posted at MarAd’s Web site — https://www.marad.dot.gov/webrequest.html through Feb. 15.
   In a related development, MarAd has awarded a $1.6 million contract to International Shipbreaking Ltd. LLC, of Brownsville, Texas to dispose of the SS Builder a ship built in 1962. Until recently, the vessel was moored at the James River Fleet.
   The ship is expected to be towed from Hampton Roads, Va. within two weeks, with scrapping to be finished by next June.