MV Transpacific (T-1) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

MV Transpacific also known as MT Transpacific is an oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

under long-term charter to the United States Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

(MSC). As part of MSC's Sealift Program, the Transpacific transports fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

. Small and having shallow-draft, the Transpacific is known as a T-1 equivalent tanker, and moves petroleum products intra-theater in between Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

and The Marshall Islands.

The Transpacific was chartered

Chartering (shipping)

Chartering is an activity within the shipping industry. In some cases a charterer may own cargo and employ a shipbroker to find a ship to deliver the cargo for a certain price, called freight rate. Freight rates may be on a per-ton basis over a certain route or alternatively may be expressed in...

from 19 November 2006 to 30 September 2008 on a daily rate of $18,848 under contract number N00033-06-C-5409.

Owners and operators

The ship is owned

Ship-owner

A shipowner is the owner of a merchant vessel . In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freight rate, either as a per freight rate or based on hire...

and operated by TransAtlantic Lines LLC

TransAtlantic Lines LLC

TransAtlantic Lines LLC is an American shipping company based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The limited liability company was founded in 1998 by vice-president Gudmundur Kjaernested and president Brandon C. Rose. The company owns and operates 5 vessels, including one tug-and-barge combination...

, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

shipping company

Ship transport

Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...

based in Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...

. This limited liability company

Limited liability company

A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...

was founded in 1998 by vice-president Gudmundur Kjaernested and president Brandon C. Rose. The company owns and operates 5 vessels, including one tug-and-barge combination. Four of these vessels are chartered by the Military Sealift Command

Military Sealift Command

, and perform duties such as delivering cargo to U.S. military activities in Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at 7 degrees, 26 minutes south latitude. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT] and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude....

and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. TransAtlantic Lines has no collective bargaining agreements with seagoing unions.

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

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

Sealift charter

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

In each charter period, the government has the right to cancel after 60 days with 10 days notice. After each initial 60-day period, the government can cancel the charter with 30 days notice. 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. This contract was competitively procured with more than 85 proposals solicited and three offers received.

The charter had previously been held by MV Montauk

MV Montauk

MV Kalia is a small double-hulled oil tanker managed by Adminros Shipmanagement Company, Ltd. and registered under the flag of Cyprus. The 109-meter-long ship has a nominal crew of 13 and can carry of oil...

, operated by Sealift Incorporated

Sealift Incorporated

Sealift Incorporated is an American shipping company based in Oyster Bay, New York. The privately held corporation was founded in 1975 by the four owners who remain the principal executives. Sealift Inc. is one of the largest ocean contractors for transporting U.S. food aid and participates in...

. Sealift Incorporated protested the charter award with the Government Accounting Office (GAO), claiming that TransAtlantic Lines understated its fuel-consumption costs. The GAO denied this protest, as well as an additional technical complaint about what business entity actually employed crewmembers.

Legal issues

On 27 October 2006 the District Court of Guam

District Court of Guam

The District Court of Guam is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over the Territory of Guam. It sits in the capital, Hagåtña....

ordered TransAtlantic Lines to post a cash security of $310,000 to take possession of the vessel from Guam Industrial Services. TransAtlantic Lines posted the bond and took possession of the ship.

Route and cargo

The ship routinely carries:

Midgrade Unleaded Automotive Gasoline (MUM),
JP-5
JP-5
JP-5 or JP5 is a yellow, kerosene-based jet fuel developed in 1952 for use in aircraft stationed aboard aircraft carriers, where the risk from fire is particularly great. JP-5 is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, containing alkanes, naphthenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons that weighs and has a...

Jet Propellant, and
Diesel Fuel Marine, also known as NATO F76.

The ship routinely visits:

Hakozaki Defense Fuel Supply Point near United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka
U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, or Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base, in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet and...

Japan,
Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, Japan,
Kin, Okinawa
Kin, Okinawa
is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa, Japan.As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 11,037 and a density of 294 persons per km². The total area is 37.57 km²....

,
Chimu Wan Base Terminal, Okinawa,
White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa,
Hachinohe, Japan,
The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site
Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site
The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, commonly referred to as the Reagan Test Site , is a missile test range in the Pacific Ocean. It covers about and includes rocket launch sites at the Kwajalein Atoll , Wake Island, and Aur Atoll. It primarily functions as a test facility for U.S...

at Kwajalein Atoll, and
Yeosu
Yeosu
Yeosu is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Old Yeosu City, which was founded in 1949, Yeocheon City, founded in 1986, and Yeocheon County were merged into a new city in 1998....

, South Korea.

External links

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Owners and operators

Sealift charter

Legal issues

Route and cargo

See also

External links