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Navy cargo ship offloads in Wilmington, N.C.

Military Sealift Command Release

Release Date: 6/24/2003

A cargo ship under the operational control of the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command will arrive at the North Carolina Ports Authority terminal in Wilmington, N.C., on June 25, 2003.

MV Cape Henry, a civilian-crewed, roll-on/roll-off ship will offload rolling stock and other vehicles belonging to the U.S. Marine Corps' II Marine Expeditionary Force used in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MV Cape Henry is part of the U.S. Maritime Administration's 68-ship Ready Reserve Force. The ship is normally kept pierside in reduced operating status in San Francisco, Calif. When activated for duty, the ship is operated by Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense.

From January to April 2003, MSC ships delivered more than 21 million square feet of vehicles and other cargo -- the equivalent of more than 300 football fields -- to the Central Command area of operations. The command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary force also pumped more than 117 million gallons of fuel to U.S. Navy and coalition warships in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MSC normally operates 120 civilian-crewed, noncombatant active ships for a variety of missions around the world. That number expanded to about 214 as additional ships were activated from reduced operating status or chartered for the command's support of U.S. forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

MSC ship missions vary from the transport of defense cargo, like that of Cape Henry, to underway replenishment, prepositioning of equipment and at-sea data collection for the U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies.