MV Transpacific (T-1)

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Motor Tanker Transpacific
Motor Tanker Transpacific
Career
Name: Motor Tanker Transpacific
Owner: TransAtlantic Lines LLC[1]
Operator: TransAtlantic Lines LLC[1]
Port of registry: United States New York[1]
Route: Japan, Okinawa, Marshall Islands, Korea
Builder: Çelık Tekne Shipyard[1]
Yard number: 30
Laid down: 29 December 1999[2]
Completed: October 2000
Identification: Call sign: WDD4592
IMO number: 9217321[1]
Status: In service[3]
Notes: Originally ordered by Turcas Petrolculuk A.Ş.
General characteristics
Class and type: 1A1 ICE-1C Tanker for Oil ESP E0[4]
Tonnage: 3,469 GT (gross tonnage)[1]
Displacement: 7,587 metric tons[5]
Length: 109.1 m[6]
Beam: 16.03 m[6]
Draught: 5.75 m[6]
Draft: 7.25 m[6]
Installed power: 3 Yanmar 6N165L diesel generators[7]
Propulsion: 2,000 hp MAN AG B&W model 8L27/38 high-speed diesel[5][7]
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h)[5]
Capacity: 30,000 barrels and 5,500 long tons deadweight (DWT)[5]
Crew: 13[5]
Notes: Has a controllable pitch propeller and a tunnel-type bow thruster with 300kW of power.[5][7]

MV Transpacific also known as MT Transpacific is an oil tanker under long-term charter to the United States Military Sealift Command (MSC).[5] As part of MSC's Sealift Program, the Transpacific transports fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense.[5] Small and having shallow-draft, the Transpacific is known as a T-1 equivalent tanker, and moves petroleum products intra-theater in between Japan, Korea and The Marshall Islands.[5]

The Transpacific was chartered from 19 November 2006 to 30 September 2008 on a daily rate of $18,848 under contract number N00033-06-C-5409.[8]

Owners and operators

The ship is owned and operated by TransAtlantic Lines LLC, an American shipping company based in Greenwich, Connecticut.[9] This limited liability company was founded in 1998[9] by vice-president Gudmundur Kjaernested and president Brandon C. Rose.[10] The company owns and operates 5 vessels, including one tug-and-barge combination. Four of these vessels are chartered by the Military Sealift Command, and perform duties such as delivering cargo to U.S. military activities in Diego Garcia and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. TransAtlantic Lines has no collective bargaining agreements with seagoing unions.[11]

From 2001 to 2002 the ship was known as MT Turcas II.[12] It was sold on 15 March 2002 to Swedish company Donsötank for $9.5 million.[13][14] Donsö Shipping KB owned the ship, then known as MT Bonito, until 2006.[15] In 2006, the ship was bought by the company Goldcup D 1862 AB.[16] TransAtlantic Lines LLC then bought it for $13,000,000.[17]

From 2001 to 2006, the ship was operated by the company Rederi AB Donsötank,[16] and registered in Sweden.[18]

Sealift charter

On 20 July 2006, the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command announced the charter for the Transpacific.[19] The charter, which commenced 1 October 2006, is a one-year firm-fixed-price contract of $6,879,520 with additional reimbursables.[19] The contract includes three additional one-year option periods and one 11-month option period which can total $25,589,458 plus additional reimbursables.[19]

In each charter period, the government has the right to cancel after 60 days with 10 days notice.[19] After each initial 60-day period, the government can cancel the charter with 30 days notice.[19] The end of the base period of the charter is September 2007, and the charter will last until August 2011 if all options are exercised.[19] This contract was competitively procured with more than 85 proposals solicited and three offers received.[19]

The charter had previously been held by MV Montauk, operated by Sealift Incorporated.[20] Sealift Incorporated protested the charter award with the Government Accounting Office (GAO), claiming that TransAtlantic Lines understated its fuel-consumption costs.[21] The GAO denied this protest, as well as an additional technical complaint about what business entity actually employed crewmembers.[21]

Legal issues

On 27 October 2006 the District Court of Guam ordered TransAtlantic Lines to post a cash security of $310,000 to take possession of the vessel from Guam Industrial Services.[22] TransAtlantic Lines posted the bond and took possession of the ship.[22]

Route and cargo

File:Japan sea map.png
TransPacific works primarily in shallow-draft ports near Japan and Korea.

The ship routinely carries:

The ship routinely visits:

See also

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Det Norske Veritas, Summary, 2007.
  2. Det Norske Veritas, Yard Information, 2007.
  3. United States Coast Guard PSIX, 2008.
  4. Det Norske Veritas, Class, 2007.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 MSC Tankers page
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Det Norske Veritas, Dimensions, 2007.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Det Norske Veritas, Machinery, 2007.
  8. MSC Procurement Spreadsheet
  9. 9.0 9.1 Dun and Bradstreet, 2007.
  10. United States Court of Appeals, 2000.
  11. American Maritime Officers (2004-11). "Non-union operator wins charter held by Sagamore". AMO Currents. http://www.amo-union.org/newspaper/Morgue/11-2004/Sections/News/sagamore.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-26. 
  12. DNV Exchange - TRANSPACIFIC - Previous Names
  13. ShipLink.info
  14. Times Shipping Journal
  15. DNV Exchange - TRANSPACIFIC - Previous Owners
  16. 16.0 16.1 DNV Exchange - TRANSPACIFIC - Previous Managers
  17. Scandinavian Shipping Gazette, 2006.
  18. DNV Exchange - TRANSPACIFIC - Previous Flags
  19. American Maritime Officers (November 2008). "Vessel acquisition brings new jobs for AMO aboard Overseas Harriette". AMO Currents. http://www.amo-union.org/newspaper/morgue/11-2006/Sections/News/sealift.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-10. 
  20. 21.0 21.1 Sealift, Inc., B-298588 (U.S. Government Accounting Office 2006-11-13).
  21. 22.0 22.1 Guam Industrial Services v. Transatlantic Lines LLC, 06-00033 (District Court of Guam 2006-10-27).

References

External links

30px External images
16px Launch of the MT Transpacific
Süleyman Demirel attends the launch of MT Transpacific (then MT Turcas II) on 21 September 2000.
16px MT Transpacific (ex Bonito) at sea.
MT Transpacific (then known as MT Bonito) at sea near the Firth of Forth.
16px MT Transpacific (ex Bonito) at the pier.
MT Transpacific (then known as MT Bonito) tied up at the pier.