AMO Currents - MSC ships, AMO officers deliver during JLOTS 2009

AMO Currents - Posted: August 18, 2009

MSC ships, AMO officers deliver during JLOTS 2009

AMO officers working aboard three ships this summer participated in exercises of what Military Sealift Command called "one of the U.S. military's most unusual and important capabilities."

The annual exercises, called joint-logistics-over-the-shore (JLOTS), test the military's ability to offload cargo using a floating platform and small barges. These capabilities are critical for delivering equipment and goods to areas where port facilities don't exist or have been heavily damaged by events such as a natural disaster.

The large medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Seay was activated from reduced operating status in Baltimore to perform exercises two miles off the coast of North Carolina.

"I have a very experienced crew," Capt. Richard Malloy, master of the USNS Seay, told Sealift, a publication of MSC. "We've been out here working nonstop with the Navy and Army to ensure that we are able to conduct the whole evolution safely."

The heavy-lift ship S/S Cape May and crane ship S/S Cornhusker State, both from the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force (RRF), were also activated for JLOTS. Both ships delivered equipment and cargo for the exercise in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

MSC ships, as well RRF ships under the operational control of MSC while in full operating status, serve a prominent role in each JLOTS evolution for the U.S. Transportation Command. The USNS Seay is operated by American Overseas Marine Corporation, the Cape May by Ocean Duchess Inc. and the Cornhusker State by Interocean American Shipping Corporation. All three ships are manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers.