TRANSCOM working with Navy on sealift strategy

By Audrey Decker / February 2, 2022 at 4:35 PM

The Navy is developing a strategy with U.S. Transportation Command to purchase used ships to combat an aging sealift fleet, according to Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, head of TRANSCOM.

“In our discussions with the Navy, there's a strategy out there to begin to purchase used ships, which is essentially what was our strategy almost three years ago -- to purchase some used ships and get them into the fleet because our fleet is old,” Van Ovost said today at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.

Most of the Navy’s large roll-on/roll-off ships needed to move large equipment will retire in the next 10 years, according to Van Ovost.

“We're working with the Navy on this strategy to purchase used in the beginning,” she said. “We're working with Congress and we've been authorized to purchase up to nine used ships in combination with some new ships.”

Last summer, the Defense Department asked Congress to temporarily lift a statutory ban on buying used foreign ships in fiscal year 2022 to jump-start reserve sealift fleet modernization plans.

“The most important thing is we've got to revitalize our shipbuilding capability and our ability at docks to do repairs and maintenance and modifications,” Van Ovost said. “That is critical for our defense industrial base, not just for sealift, but frankly, for all of our sea power.”

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