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BSP Saves Time, Trouble and Expense

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050119-10
Release Date: 1/19/2005 10:24:00 AM

By Chief Journalist (SW) Dan Smithyman, Naval Station Rota Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Naval Station Rota, Spain's, Port Operations Department has been using an old watercraft to ferry personnel and cargo out to ships that pass by the base since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and it has been saving a fortune in manpower and money ever since. The process is called BSP or Brief Stop for Personnel.

The department is using an LCM-6 "Mike" boat to shuttle ship's personnel, cargo and security teams to Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships and government contracted cargo vessels as they head through the Strait of Gibraltar to points east.

"Last year, we did about 50 of these missions, and this year, we've done 15 so far," said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Reardon, port operations officer. "The benefits are significant in that to bring in a big LMSR (Large, Medium-speed Roll-on/Roll-off ship) like the Bob Hope, it takes about $25,000 in tug and port costs to bring it pierside. It's significantly less to run the Mike boat out to the ship instead."

Over the course of a year, this saves the Navy about $1.6 to $1.9 million, Reardon said. He said the number of man-hours saved is huge, as it normally takes a 10 or 12-man team to handle lines when a ship pulls into port, in addition to the tugs and harbor pilot. The Mike boat team uses a four-man crew.

The Mike 6 drives out to a mooring buoy with its cargo and passengers about two miles outside the harbor to meet the ships. It pulls alongside, where passengers normally climb a Jacob's ladder or ship's accommodation ladder to board. Cargo is then craned aboard, and the ship is back underway.

"It's about a 45-minute evolution for the ship, and about an hour and a half for the BSP team that's actually driving the boat," Reardon said. "It would otherwise take about three hours to bring the ship in port, get them tied up and begin the on-load, so it saves the ships a couple hours they could otherwise spend at sea heading toward their destination."

Weather plays an important part in the evolution. Calm seas make boarding the ship fairly easy, but choppy seas or large swells make boarding more precarious. If there is a large surge in waves or high winds, the ship will turn broadside against the weather and block the surge or winds, making the leeward side of the ship calmer for the boarding evolution.

The BSP process is an example of the future of the Navy, creating innovative ways to accomplish the mission and save time and money.