Source of Shipping for the Merchant Marine in Peacetime and National Emergency

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Source of Shipping for the Merchant Marine in
Peacetime and National Emergency
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Objectives

• Understand the major elements of the peacetime
  Merchant Marine organization, including the
  Military Sealift Command
• Explain how the federal government can expand the
  shipping available for its needs in time of war
  or national emergency
• Understand the usefulness of different types of
  merchant ships for military operations and the
  problems that each type poses for adaptation to
  military uses.

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US Merchant Marine Organization

• Privately-owned fleet
• US Flag
• Flag of Convenience(aka Effective US Control,
  EUSC)
• Government-owned fleet
• USTRANSCOM
• Military Traffic Management Command
• Military Sealift Command

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USTRANSCOM

• Unified commander of all of Americas global
  defense transportation system
• Composed of
• Air Forces Air Mobility Command (AMC)
• Armys Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC)
• Navys Military Sealift Command (MSC)

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Military Traffic Management Command

• Provides global surface transportation to meet
  national security goals in peace and war
• Responsible for surface cargo movement and port
  management
• In Desert Storm, MTMC managed the movement of 85
  of the unit equipment shipped to Saudi Arabia
• Operated out of 33 ports worldwide
• Responsible for surface passenger and personal
  property programs

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Military Sealift Command

• Permanent force of government-owned,
  civilian-manned vessels operated by DOD for
  military purposes
• Primary mission to support sealift requirements
  of all military services in war or national
  emergency
• Functions
• Contingency sealift for US military operations,
  e.g. Persian Gulf War
• Plan for emergency expansion of sealift and
  government shipping from peacetime to wartime
  capacity
• Peacetime logistical support of the US military
  forces
• Operate naval auxiliary vessels
• Provide Defense Department ocean shipping for
  non-transportation purposes, e.g. scientific
  research support for NASA and Antarctic missions,
  etc

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Military Sealift Command

• Civilian-manned command within the Navy
  organization comprised of two fleets
• Nucleus fleet (110 vessels, government-owned or
  bareboat from private owners) is manned by
  government employees and is mostly used for
  direct support of the Navy fleet
• Chartered fleet (100 vessels on voyage or time
  charter, manned by the chartering company) is
  used to fulfill other shipping needs, e.g.
  shipping military cargoes and the household goods
  of military families to overseas bases

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Military Sealift Command

• Controls the strategic sealift force, consisting
  of preposition ships (private-owned US flag
  vessels under long-term contract to MSC), and
  fast sealift ships
• Preposition Ships-30 ships, strategically
  positioned in key ocean areas, making it possible
  to deploy on short-notice the vital equipment,
  fuel and supplies to initially support military
  needs when ever needed
• Fast sealift ships - 8 ships maintain by MSC on 4
  day readiness status for surge shipping from the
  US to the site of a military deployment

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National Defense Reserve Fleet(NDRF)

• Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF)-
• 90 vessels on 5/10/20 day call
• Of 96 ships then in RRF, 79 were used during
  Desert Shield/Storm to transport 1/3 of the
  equipment and 1/5 of the total dry cargo used
• Ships exceeded expected performance, despite many
  having been in long lay-ups
• Activated ships were tendered to MSC and manned
  by merchant sailors
• Fastest buildup in history and the largest since
  the Vietnam War

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National Defense Reserve Fleet(NDRF)

• 220 more vessels belong, but not assigned to the
  RRF
• 112 are maintained on long term call for the
  possibility of a large long tem war
• NDRF ships are located at NDRF anchorages on each
  coast
• Suisun Bay, CA
• Beaumont, TX
• James Bay, VA
• Some RRF ships are out-ported or berthed at
  other ports close to their activation sites to
  reduce delays when activated

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Activation Procedures

• How the government gets ships for war/national
  emergency
• MSC Strategic Sealift Force
• MSC Chartered Fleet
• RRF
• Privately-owned US Flag vessels available under
  special voluntary agreements
• Privately-owned US Flag merchants obtained
  through commercial contract on open market or
  requisition
• NDRF
• US privately-owned ships registered under flags
  of convenience (EUSC)
• Allied Flag ships if NATO is involved
• Neutral ships the right of angary
• Prizes

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Right of Angary

• Traditional maritime right, which US government
  claims under the Emergency Foreign Vessels
  Acquisition Act
• Requisition neutral ships in US waters if needed
• Right is maintained in principle, but would be
  practiced in rare circumstances due to the
  obvious diplomatic difficulties which might ensue
• NSA would maintain cognizance of all neutral
  ships carry US trade with neutral nations in
  order to control imports and exports ensuring the
  national priorities of the war effort are being
  met

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Break bulk ships
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Break bulk
• Advantage
• Most useful carriers of dry cargo because they
  are self-sustaining
• Disadvantages
• No longer commercially viable
• Labor intensive to load/unload
• Mostly available in RRF/NDRF
• Can carry any type of cargo, including outsize
  equipment like tanks, artillery pieces

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RO/RO
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Roll-on/Roll-off (RO/RO)
• Advantage
• Most easily unloaded pier-side
• Can be unloaded to floating causeway sections at
  anchor in light seas for amphibious operations
• Disadvantage
• All ships do not have reinforced decks of correct
  dimensions to carry large armored vehicles
• Military RO/ROs in RRF, commercial in Japanese
  flag car-carriers

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LASH
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Barge Ships (LASH Lighter Aboard Ship and
  Seabee Classes)
• Advantages
• Extremely useful for early phases of
  over-the-shore logistics because they carry their
  own lighterage, which can be used to support
  later arriving ships
• Excellent in carrying outsize cargo
• Can lower barges into the sea with a gantry crane
  or elevator, then steam off and reload
• Disadvantage
• Being supplanted by container ships in areas with
  good road/rail transport
• Several are in the RRF

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Container Ships
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Containerships
• Advantages
• Most commercially viable
• Best for follow-on re-supply effort once a
  container port has been secured or a beachhead
  port facility has been constructed
• Disadvantages
• Less useful for military operations
• Are not self-sustaining
• Cannot carry outsize cargo such as tanks and
  artillery pieces without special adaptations
• If no container port is available, they require
  support of a crane ship to offload containers

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Tankers
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Tankers
• Small (lt40,000 tons) are excellent for
  transporting fuel from port to an amphibious
  beach to naval vessels operating at sea for UNREP
  or CONSOL
• Medium (40-100, 000 tons) are useful for bulk
  transport to major shore-side oil depots in
  theatre, but are too large and unmaneuverable to
  directly support naval and amphibious forces
• Large (gt100,000 tons) are too large to enter most
  ports and are thus not useful to the military

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Specialized Ships
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Merchant Ship Types Used in Military Operations

• Specialized ships which are converted or built
  and maintained exclusively by the Navy or MSC as
  needed
• Crane ships
• Hospital ships
• Aviation support ships
• Heavy lift ships (aka FLO/FLOs)

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Merchant Ship Types Not Useful in Military
Operations

• Dry bulk ships
• Liquid natural gas tankers (LNGs)

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Standards

• Ships receiving government construction subsidies
  must have the following
• Watertight compartmentalization
• Speed of 20 knots fully loaded
• Rubber or shock mount protection
• Extra electrical capacity
• Extra distilling capacity
• CBR wash down hose fittings