Maritime Administration to Recycle Three More Ships

Two to depart from James River, One from Beaumont.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has awarded contracts to Esco Marine, Inc., of Brownsville, Texas to recycle three ships. The fee-for-service contracts are worth a total of more than a million dollars.

Esco will receive $564,910 to recycle the Gage, a former attack transport ship built at Oregon Shipbuilding in 1944. Gage received a battle star for its service in World War II. The Ortolan, a submarine rescue ship built in 1969, will be recycled under the terms of a contract for $325,090. Both ships are moored in the James River Reserve Fleet at Fort Eustis, Virginia. The Gulf Shipper, a breakbulk cargo ship built in 1964, will be recycled at a cost to the Maritime Administration of $145,726. The Gulf Shipper is in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet site in Texas. All three ships are expected to leave their respective fleets within 30 days.

The Maritime Administration stores ships at three National Defense Reserve Fleet sites: the James River Reserve Fleet in Virginia, the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Texas, and the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. When ships become obsolete, the Maritime Administration arranges for their disposal in an environmentally sensitive manner. Recycling is the most common method. When a ship is recycled the recycler usually salvages and sells metal and other materials.