Naval Ship Donation: Existing Procedures Inadequate for the Use of Additional Evaluation Criteria.
Abstract
The Secretary of the Navy has legal authority (10 U.S.C. 7306) to transfer title of ships no longer needed for the Navy's purposes to not-for-profit entities and others. However, the law requires that (1) such a donation be made at no cost to the government, (2) the recipient maintain the ship, and (3) Congress be allowed 60 days to review the Secretary's decision. The Navy's ship donation evaluation process is designed to help the Secretary of the Navy determine whether those seeking a donation of a ship meet the Navy's requirements for financial and technical capabilities. The overall purpose of the ship donation program is to promote the public interest in the defense of the nation and to commemorate historic deeds performed by naval ships. In the past, with one exception, only 1 application was received for each of 43 donations and the qualified applicant received the donation. However, for the USS Missouri, the Navy received five applications. We obtained information on the (1) process of applying for the ship, (2) evaluation criteria and weighting used to evaluate the applications, and (3) use of the criteria and weighting in the selection process. The purpose of this letter is to quickly summarize our findings and to recommend ways to improve the process for any future ship donation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA328255
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office