1/Your moment of #sealift comes courtsey of the @USMC.

Latest word is USNS GySgt Fred W. Stockham of Maritime Prepositioning Squadron 2 based in Diego Garcia, which has just completed an extensive shipyard availablity, along with its cargo, has been told not to backload.
2/The ship arrived at the Marine Corps Depot at Blount Island on Feb 14 and was scheduled to commence backload as part of the routine maintenance cycle. @MSCSealift & the crew were told that is was cancelled. The ship will be shifted into a reduced operating status.
3/ The ship is one of three LMSRs assigned to MPSRON 2. Sisler is currently up in Norway conducting an exercise and USNS Seay is in the shipyard in Boston scheduled to backload next.

There are questions about some of the other ships.
4/Each MPSRON has an expeditionary support dock (ESD) assigned to it to allow ships to offload at anchor and transfer the cargo ashore by LCAC - part of a modified sea basing program.

Of the two ships, John Glenn has been in reduced operating status all last year.
5/Montford Point may join the vessel in lay up with talk of selling off the ships since the concept of Sea Basing has fallen out of use.

These ships are similar to ESBs, and should be considered for conversion into such ships, or command vessels, tenders, of hospital ships.
6/This may all stem from the @USMC Commandants Planning Guide that contains one single paragraph on the issue of Maritime Prepositioning.

So, is the Marine Corps following with what they did in 2012 when they deactivated MPSRON 1 in the Med, and preparing to do so again?
7/Why are they willing to lose the capability to preposition a Marine Expeditionary Brigade of 16,000 personnel, with equipment and sustainment for 30 days?

MPS demonstrated its concept in Saudi Arabia 1990, Somalia 1992, Iraq 2003 & 2004; along with a host of many other ops.
8/Please...Do not tell me that you are trading a proven concept that can support a MEB, for a light amphibious warship (LAW) that carries 75 Marines, cruises at 14 knots & load 4 to 8k ft2 of cargo.
Compared to one MPS that can carry 100 Marines, 24 knots and carry 300k ft2.
9/If you want the longer history of the Marine Corps prepositioning program, check out my article from @NavalInstitute Proceedings, Semper Sealift.

usni.org/magazines/nava…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Sal Mercogliano 🚢⚓🧭🐪🚒🏴‍☠️

Sal Mercogliano 🚢⚓🧭🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @mercoglianos

Feb 23
What would a shut down or disruption in the Black Sea mean?

#Ukraine wheat exports set for a record year and they provide a large amount of the world's coarse grains and corn.
From the @UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport for grain imports/exports by % for 2020.

Ukraine accounts for 10 percent of world grain.

It makes me what to recommend Nick Lambert's latest book on WWI & the real justification for the Gallipoli Campaign.
From @EIAgov, the US (26%), Qatar (24%) and Russia (20%) provide 70% of all of Europe LNG.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 22
What the Ship? Ship Fires Update, Supply Chain, Ukraine-Russia, Global ... via @YouTube
1⃣ Around $400 Million Worth of Cars Could be Lost in Felicity Ace Fire

H/T @MikeSchuler & @gCaptain

gcaptain.com/around-400-mil…
2⃣ Project44: Asian ports see rising congestion

@loriannlarocco @AmericanShipper @FreightWaves

freightwaves.com/news/project44…
Read 6 tweets
Feb 12
1/I presented my paper "World War II Expeditionary Logisitics and Support in the Pacific" at the 2022 Virtual Expeditionary Warfare Conference.

The focus was on early WWII Pacific naval logistics, specifically oil and repair from Dec 41 to Feb 43...
2/Most histories - @navy1944 & #IanToll - focus on the exploits of the fast carrier task forces and the six @USNavy carriers: Enterprise, Lexington, Saratoga, Yorktown, Hornet & Wasp.

Yet, behind the scenes, these fast carriers required an extensive logistics network...
3/Built for commercial service under Merchant Marine Act of 1936, these tankers included national defense features: high speed, twin screws & provisions for guns/comms.

Six of them served as fast oilers in the Pacific: Neosho, Cimarron, Platte, Kaskaskia, Guadalupe & Sabine...
Read 11 tweets
Dec 14, 2021
1/Why are @PortofLA & @portoflongbeach slowing down in Oct & Nov?

@mattschrap of @harbortruckers
hits it on the head with his assessment of the primary impediment at the 15:00 mark.

100,000+ EMPTY CONTAINERS IN THE PORTS.

bloomberg.com/news/videos/20…
2/Ocean shipping containers do not typically venture far from the harbors. What most people see on the roads and highways are not intermodal containers, but 40 or 53ft trailers. The material from overseas is offloaded at sites close to the port and repacked for delivery.
3/When you hear about a truck shortage, it is not one of trucks & drivers. For a truck to load, it has to bring a chassis to load a container on. Usually, it has an empty to return. As the terminals are full, there is little room to store them, making moving boxes slow.
Read 11 tweets
Dec 13, 2021
What the Ship is Going on?
Dec 13, 2021

1⃣ Abandoned Mariners
2⃣ @IMOHQ Elections & Expansion
3⃣ @PortofLA/@portoflongbeach, @PortVancouver & #AlmiranteStorni Update
4⃣ China Shipping & Ningbo Closure
5⃣ New US Training Vessels

1⃣Leaking Hull, Hazardous Cargo: Aboard a Stranded Ship No One Would Help

H/T @WSJ, @drewhinshaw & @JoeWSJ

wsj.com/articles/aband…
2⃣International Maritime Organization Elects New 40-Member Council

H/T @gCaptain @MikeSchuler

gcaptain.com/international-…
Read 9 tweets
Nov 26, 2021
China is imposing quarantines of up to 7 weeks for cargo ship crew, and it's bad news for the supply chain

businessinsider.com/shipping-suppl… via @businessinsider
One of the most under reported stories is the attempt by China to grow their influence in the shipping industry for their seafarers. Since many ships call at China, this new restriction makes employing Chinese nationals more challenging.

Top 5 seafarers:
1️⃣🇵🇭
2️⃣🇷🇺
3️⃣🇮🇩
4️⃣🇨🇳
5️⃣🇮🇳
China’s Covid Zero Policy Towards Seafarers Escalates Supply Chain Crisis

"China’s increasingly extreme Covid Zero policies are standing in the way of a full recovery for the shipping industry and prolonging a crisis that’s snarled ports."

gcaptain.com/chinas-covid-z…
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(