Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Sealift Fleet

Abstract

Congress currently faces decisions about how best to restore the readiness of a fleet of government-owned ships kept on standby to support Department of Defense (DOD) surge sealift requirements. The Ready Reserve Force (RRF)--a subset of the statutorily required National Defense Reserve Fleet--comprises 46 vessels managed by the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD). RRF vessels are located strategically at ports throughout the United States. MARAD contracts with several private-sector companies to keep these ships maintained and ready to sail within five days' notice. These companies typically employ a skeleton crew of about 10 per ship who both live onboard and perform regular maintenance. MARAD contractors must also assemble the additional crew that would be needed for operating the ship if activated to support DOD. According to contract activity entered into the Federal Procurement Data System for FY2018 and FY2019, three of MARAD's leading RRF contractors are also major container ship carriers in the U.S. domestic trade. MARAD's other four leading contractors are primarily ship management companies.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 04, 2020
Accession Number
AD1169830

Entities

People

  • John Frittelli

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accountability
  • Cargo Ships
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Fixed Price Contracts
  • Governments
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Procurement
  • Ships
  • Transportation
  • Unified Combatant Commands
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • United States Transportation Command

Readers

  • Government Contracting/Procurement.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Naval Engineering and Maritime Security