DOT officials said the 20 contracts totaling $6.2 billion approved by the U.S. Maritime Administration will be directed to the management and overall maintenance of 51 government-owned ships out of nearly 101 in the nation's Ready Reserve Force. They added it will further "bolster national security" and "restore maritime dominance."
The more than 100-vessel strong RRF is maintained, the department added, in a "high state of readiness" which be activated for a global deployment within five days.
The Maritime Administration has a "tremendous responsibility to maintain the RRF so that during critical military, humanitarian, and natural disaster operations, Americans can rely on these vessels for logistics support," acting MARAD Administrator Sang Yi said in a statement.
The RRF fleet of ships under MARAD provides "strategic sealift support for the rapid deployment of U.S. military forces and equipment during conflicts, crises and other emergencies," according to DOT.
Transportation said the 10-year contracts will cover maintenance and repair work, logistics support, activation, operation, deactivation, and crew and management of the 51 contracted MARAD RRF vessels.
The RRF was initiated in 1976 at the end of the Gerald R. Ford administration as a joint program between DOT and the U.S. Department of Defense.
The dozens of ocean-bearing ships stationed at various U.S. outports include roll-on and roll-off transport ships, a series of auxiliary crane ships and other aviation maintenance vessels.
"We are in a new era," MARAD's acting chief said Monday in a video clip ahead of Wednesday's announcement. On Wednesday, Yi said MARAD's seven contracts with ship mangers will "ensure the fleet stays ready, reliable and responsive."
Meanwhile, federal officials say it means MARAD and the federal transpiration department are "one step closer" to "restoring maritime dominance."
In a statement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted the RRF "supports our military men and women and strengthens our supply chains."
Duffy said when world events call for U.S. military action, the Ready Reserve Force "delivers the tanks, the trucks and the supplies."
"National security depends on strategic sealift, and strategic sealift depends on the RRF," the secretary stated.
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