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North American Ship Recycling gets “Hoist”

North American Ship Recycling gets “Hoist”

North American Ship Recycling gets “Hoist”

   The U.S. Maritime Administration has announced that North American Ship Recycling is buying the World War II-era vessel Hoist for $61,000.

   MarAd keeps ships in three National Defense Reserve Fleet sites to support the military deployments and to respond to national emergencies. These sites are located in the James River near Newport News, Va.; Beaumont, Texas; and Suisan Bay at Benicia, Calif. When the ships become obsolete, MarAd arranges for their disposal.

   The Hoist is the 60th ship to depart the James River fleet since 2001. Built in 1945, the Hoist served as a Navy rescue and salvage vessel. Some of its noteworthy missions were the 1964 search for the lost attack submarine USS Thresher, and the 1966 recovery of a hydrogen bomb lost off Palomares, Spain, after the crash of a B-52 bomber. The Hoist entered the James River fleet in 1994.

   The vessel will be scrapped at North American Ship Recycling’s facility at Sparrows Point, Md., near Baltimore.