MARAD: Beaumont Reserve Fleet Ship Sold for Recycling

American Osprey, an off-shore petroleum discharge tanker, built in 1958 at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Md., brought a purchase price of $12,227.70

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has sold a ship for recycling to All Star Metals, LLC of Brownsville, Texas. The American Osprey, an off-shore petroleum discharge tanker, built in 1958 at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Md., brought a purchase price of $12,227.70

The vessel has a 235,000 barrel capacity, a deadweight capacity of 34,723 long tons and is 661 feet long and 90 feet wide. The Osprey was deployed in the Gulf Region, Okinawa, Japan, and Guam, and has been moored at the National Defense Reserve Fleet site in Beaumont, Texas.

The Maritime Administration stores ships at three National Defense Reserve Fleet sites: the Beaumont site, James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia, and the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. When ships become obsolete, the Maritime Administration arranges for their disposal in an environmentally sensitive manner. When a ship is recycled, as this one will be, the recycler often salvages and sells metal and other materials, and disposes of other materials in accordance with state and federal law.