Two More Ships to Depart Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
Two obsolete vessels, the Reclaimer and Sagamore, are scheduled to be towed from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on Monday, May 16, 2011.
The departures mark the 20th and 21st ships to leave the National Defense Reserve Fleet since October 2009, when the Obama Administration announced its commitment to clean up the site and improve the surrounding environment. As a result, the U.S. Maritime Administration is more than four months ahead of schedule in removing obsolete U.S. ships from the Reserve Fleet. Further, the vessels Bolster and Clamp are currently scheduled for departure from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on Monday, May 23, 2011. The disposal schedule calls for 20 ships to be removed from SBRF by September 30, 2011.
The Reclaimer, formerly the USS Reclaimer (ARS-42) is a Diver class auxiliary salvage and rescue ship built for the U.S. Navy specifically for salvage work at the end of World War II. The vessel was built by Basalt Rock Company, Inc., Shipbuilding Division, Napa, California, and launched on June 23, 1945. The vessel served primarily in the Pacific and Far East conducting salvage and towing operations from post World War II throughout the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The vessel was decommissioned in 1994, and placed in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.
The Sagamore, formerly the Alaska Standard is a coastal liquid-bulk tanker built by Albina Engine and Machine Works of Portland, Oregon, for the Standard Oil Company of California. Launched in 1959, the vessel was constructed specifically to supply fuel to extremely remote towns and villages located along Alaska’s rugged coast. The vessel was sold to Sealift Tankers in 1986 and renamed Sagamore. The vessel was transferred to the Maritime Administration and entered the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in 1987.
The Reclaimer and Sagamore will be cleaned of marine growth and loose exterior paint in dry-dock at a ship repair facility in San Francisco before departing for Texas, where they will be recycled.
What: Ship Departures – Reclaimer and Sagamore
When: Monday, May 16, 2011, beginning at approximately 7:00 a.m. (PST) (Please be advised that departure dates and times are subject to change and are dependent on weather and other conditions.)
Where: Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benicia, California
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PHOTO 1: The "Ghost Fleet"
PHOTO 2: Aerial photo of the Suisun Bay. Benicia to the left, Martinez to the right, and Fairfield/Suisun City to the north