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Maersk to Operate Fast Sealift Ships
MSC Agreement Signals Job Retention for SIU Members
October 2005

The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) has awarded a contract to Maersk Line, Ltd. of Norfolk, Va. for the operation and maintenance of eight Seafarers-crewed fast sealift ships. Like the vessels’ previous operator, Maersk is an SIU-contracted company. According to MSC, “The contract is valued at $26 million for its initial year and includes four one-year options that, if exercised, would bring the total value of the contract to $135 million. Under this contract, Maersk will be responsible for providing qualified ship officers and crews to operate the ships, as well as the technical support and supplies needed to maintain them.” These ships—the fastest cargo ships in the world, traveling at speeds of up to 30 knots or more — are used for the rapid deployment of U.S. military equipment or humanitarian aid supplies to contingency sites around the world. They have been utilized during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and they were a major asset during the Persian Gulf War. The ships that fall under this contract are the USNS Algol, USNS Altair, USNS Antares, USNS Bellatrix, USNS Capella, USNS Denebola, USNS Pollux and USNS Regulus. Ordinarily, the vessels are maintained pierside in reduced operating status at U.S. East Coast and Gulf ports. When needed, they can be activated and under way in less than 96 hours, ready to deliver the supplies needed for military or humanitarian crises anywhere in the world. In fact, the Pollux recently played a key early role in helping provide relief after Hurricane Katrina near New Orleans. The fast sealift ships were built as containerships but have been converted and given roll-on/roll-off features, cranes and a series of decks connected by ramps so that vehicles can be driven in and out of storage areas for rapid loading and unloading. On an average day, MSC operates more than 110 noncombatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships at sea, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance and strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world. Many of those vessels are crewed by SIU members. ###