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Military Cargo Ship Loads in Corpus Christi

Military Sealift Command Press Release

25 Jan 2003

A civilian-crewed, non-combatant U.S. government-owned cargo ship, MV Cape Taylor is in Corpus Christi to load U.S. Army cargo as part the repositioning of U.S. forces in support of the global war on terrorism and to prepare for future contingencies as may be directed. Two other Ready Reserve Force ships have also been ordered to the port and are scheduled to load at a later date.

Ordinarily, the ship is kept in reduced operating status at berths in Houston. The ship can be activated, fully crewed and underway to a loading port in just five days.

Cape Texas, is part of the 72 government-owned ships of the Ready Reserve Force, maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration to meet surge shipping requirements for the Department of Defense. The Ready Reserve Force helps offset the shortage of militarily useful sealift ships in the U.S. merchant fleet. When activated, RRF ships come under Military Sealift Command operational control.

Formerly a commercial vessels, Cape Texas is well suited for transporting out-sized military equipment and supplies. More than 630 feet long and capable of carrying about 88,000 square feet of rolling stock and containerized cargo, the ship can be loaded using its stern ramp, which enables military equipment to be easily driven onto the ship's vehicle decks.

RRF ships each have a civilian crew employed by a private company under contract to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Federal civilian mariners and contractor-employed mariners have operated military cargo ships since the 1770s.

More than 95 percent of all equipment and supplies for a war or contingency operation move by sea on ships controlled by Military Sealift Command. When defense fuels are added, the amount of military cargo carried by sea becomes 97 percent.

Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense, operates about 120 civilian-crewed, noncombatant ships around the world each day during peacetime. MSC ship missions vary from the transport and afloat prepositioning of defense cargo to underway replenishment and other direct support to Navy ships at sea and at-sea data collection for the U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies.