R.G. Edmonson | Nov 10, 2010 12:33PM EST
The Maritime Administration awarded two contracts totaling $3.1 million for disposal of two ships in the Suisun Bay reserve fleet.
A startup ship recycler in San Francisco Bay, Allied Defense Recycling of Petaluma, Calif., operates at the former U.S. Navy shipyard at Mare Island. According to Marad, the location spares the government the expense of towing obsolete vessels 5,000 miles via the Panama Canal to scrapyards on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts.
The Obama administration announced last year expedited cleanup of the Suisun Bay reserve fleet, removing 57 ships by Sept. 30, 2017. Eleven of them went for recycling in fiscal 2009.
Under an agreement reached in April, Marad will remove 20 of the ships that are in the poorest condition prior to Sept. 30, 2012.
The two ships slated for scrapping are the SS President, formerly the APL President Tyler, and former Lykes Lines SS Solon Turman. Both vessels were built in 1961. Both were breakbulk vessels, although the President Tyler was later reconfigured for containerized cargo.
-- Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.
