U.S. government to resume sales from James River “ghost fleet”
U.S. government to resume sales from James River “ghost fleet”
The U.S. government will resume disposing of ships from the James River Reserve Fleet, said Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton.
The decision follows a February MarAd decision to suspend ship disposal until regulatory discrepancies among federal and state agencies had been resolved.
“Fast and favorable action by the Commonwealth of Virginia allows us to move forward with disposing of these vessels in an environmentally sensitive manner,” Connaughton said.
Connaughton said MarAd expects to make contract announcements for three ships soon, and to have the first ship move out from the James River within a month. While MarAd reached an agreement with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the agency is still working to reach similar agreements for the fleets in Beaumont, Texas, and Suisun Bay, Calif.
The regulatory discrepancies dealt with a process known as scamping — the scraping of barnacles and other marine organisms from the hulls of ships. This lessens the chance that invasive species may be taken to another ecosystem, but concerns have been raised about the loosening of paint chips from the hulls during the process.
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality clarified its position in a letter to MarAd, saying ships in the James River may be scamped in Virginia waters.
MarAd keeps ships in the National Defense Reserve Fleet sites, known popularly as “ghost fleets,” to support Armed Forces movements and to respond to national emergencies. When the ships become obsolete, the MarAd arranges for their disposal in an environmentally sensitive manner.