MarEx Mailbag
The mailbag is heavy this week, brimming with interesting and provocative opinions, most of them referencing last week’s lead editorial. Last week, our lead editorial referenced the marked shift in U.S. government policy with regard to culling out the obsolete vessels in their three “ghost” fleets (MARAD hates that word, BTW), specifically at the Suisun Bay fleet in California. The editorial netted good click-through traffic (always makes me happy) and brought in a raft of well-thought out letters. The piece, entitled, “California Dreamin’ or West Coast Nightmare?” can be read again by clicking HERE. Or, you can simply read what a bunch of our readers had to say about it below:
Joe: I read your column this morning and thought to myself, “Finally, someone is running the numbers as to how long and how expensive it will be to remove the vessels from SBRF”. Meanwhile, VA has wisely determined that the benefit of removing vessels by scamping them is less expensive. More efficient and certainly a benefit in all ways to the taxpayers. It was certain that Texas officials who originally refused to accept Marad vessels unless they were scamped, but then willingly accepted Navy and Coast guard non-retention ships in Brownsville, some even coming from Suisun Bay! If the Obama Administration is truly more concerned about the environment, it will provide ample funding to implement strong environmental measures for the entire Marad fleet; instruct the Coast Guard to adhere to the same regulations it imposes on Marad vessels (but exempted its own vessels only after media brought attention to the issue) and also remove the exemption on hull cleaning for non-retention for military vessels. Keep up the real reporting. Hope you're well. Shannon Russell MarEx Editor’s Remarks: Ms. Russell, for your guidance, was the senior press officer at MARAD under Sean Connaughton, while he was U.S. Maritime Administrator. If you are not sure what that position (Maritime Administrator) entails, you can be forgiven – we haven’t had one for a while. Shannon always answered the telephone and provided fair and thorough information. Not all public relations people do that, you know. In this case, she knows as much about the “Ghost” fleet as anyone. Her letter also shows us that as much as we in the media think we know, there’s always more to the story. The West Coast journalists who penned those inflammatory editorials don’t care about that, however. Thanks for writing, Shannon. Here’s another:
Mr. Keefe; We ran below from the Oregonian in our daily newsletter recently: “A proper disposal plan for the ghost fleet” After years of wrangling, the federal government is finally ready to act responsibly and remove its fleet of rotting old warships from waters near San Francisco Bay. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a new plan for cleaning up and recycling the ships. They will be placed in dry-dock for removal of invasive species clinging to their hulls, and then they'll be towed to Texas for dismantling at a cost to the government of about $2.5 million per ship. Click HERE to read the full editorial. I am not sure if we should be offended, but it sure seems like that while Oregon is too pristine a place to scrap a vessel, and that Texas is not? Best Regards, Niels B. Lyngso MarEx Editor’s remarks: Mr. Lyngso is Director of Maritime Affairs for the West Gulf Maritime Association. His remarks are right on. And, as a 14+ year resident of the Lone Star State (in a former life), I’m offended, too.
Joe, I read with interest your article on the current Marad program to scrap vessels at the Suisun Bay fleet. Imagine that, a double standard at a government agency. Thanks for pointing out the politics of the government ship scrapping business. The USG is the only ship owner that I know in the world who pays others to scrap their tonnage. Once again, we the taxpayers take it in the shorts so that the “appearance” of being environmentally friendly in our ship scrapping is upheld. With regard to California, you would think with the unemployment situation out there someone would be cheering to get the business at one of the many yards located in that state. Heck, the Indians do it without a shipyard. Just pull it right up on the beach 1 meter at a time and chip away at it. That’s the other extreme to environmentally sound ship scrapping. And they are in business for a reason. They pay you for your tonnage. Not the other way around. And, as captain of the to-be-scrapped-ship, you get the chance to intentionally drive a ship up on the beach. Probably anticlimactic but still, to be able to get a full head of steam and damn the torpedoes, give her all she’s got. I think I would be trying to get the record for driving the furthest up on the beach! Best Regards, Tim Axelsson MarEx Editor’s Remarks: Tim writes in often and is a regular reader. I just wish he would say what’s on his mind instead of tiptoeing around it. I always enjoy his entries. In this case, he may be surprised to know that there ARE candidates, after all, in California that could do the work. Go figure. Read on:
Dear Mr. Keefe, Thanks for the editorial. The only thing you missed was MARAD’s role in pre-qualifying a firm that does not exist at Mare Island that has kept out our company from being able to set up business in the Bay Area to get around the restrictions California placed around removing vessels from the fleet. MARAD continues to play footsie with this paper company as a measure to ensure the Texas firms don’t inflate the towing subsidy (that’s principally what the $2.1 million subsidy you mention went for). The city of Vallejo and Lennar Development are delighted because while they are bankrupt (and the city could use the jobs) they dream of making a new San Francisco waterfront (mixed use, but no industrial) out of the property. Of course scouring the paint from the hulls and decks also means that is much less an environmental hazard and raises the value of the metal. MARAD has now issued another request for bids for three SBRF vessels and, for the second time, is not allowing for sales bids. There really is no such thing as easy money; in this case, to get it one gives up scruples. So you know, we are a MARAD pre-qualified recycler. We buy. Polly Parks Southern Recycling--EMR USA Washington Area Office MarEx Editor’s Remarks: I admit to not having vetted this entry before sticking it up on line. It just couldn’t be true – could it? Ms. Parks’ best point, in my opinion, is about the towing fees. Now, how many more ships could we recycle LOCALLY in Speaker Pelosi’s congressional district if we didn’t have to tow them all the way to Texas? Someone should write an editorial! Finally, we also received a letter sent by Southern Recycling - and signed by Ms. Parks - to the City of Vallejo, CA. It's an eye-opener. I suggest that you open and read it. Here’s one more:
Joe: I almost totally agree with your points about the recent ship disposal activity. The whole "blame the previous administration" and/or "look how much better we are" attitude is just silly and counter-productive. Makes me think that people who claim such just have completely different agendas than our mutual defense, facilitation of commerce or environmental protection/restoration. Anyway – one significant difference between the three RR fleets is that the other two have adjacent (or at least nearby) disposal facilities, yes it a couple hundred miles from Beaumont down to Brownsville, but it largely homogenous environment with a complete hydrological connection (pre-existing MARAD!). Similarly the disposal sites for most of the James River fleet have been with – in the Chesapeake Bay. So the risk of hull fouling organisms from the California fleet are unique in that a prolonged and ecosystem variety rich voyage is required to bring these aged servant to their final resting place. The ideal solution would be for the California dry-dock that is lifting them to do the cleaning – go ahead and finish the job and cut them up, saving all the transportation costs and risks (of towing old decrepit hulls 1,000's of miles) to other shipping and the environment... But that is just the way my little mind thinks. LCDR Brian Moore Commandant CG-5224 MarEx Editor’s Remarks: I immediately offered to redact LCDR Moore’s name, but he declined the safe haven. You have to like a guy like that. I also liked his letter. We talked a little this week via E-mail – turns out he’s from Texas, too. This is another case where the editor can be educated about a subject – in this case, invasive species – even though I thought I knew everything. Turns out I didn’t. LCDR Moore is well familiar with the problem and the proposed solutions. Great letter. Thanks for writing and for reading.