Maersk MPS Ships Fill Gap Before MPF(F) Comes Online

BACKGROUND

Maersk Line Limited’s Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS) are configured to transport supplies for the U.S. Marine Corps. Known as the Maritime Prepositioning Force, the ships were modified beginning in 1984 and are

forward-deployed to the western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The ships contain nearly everything Marine Corps forces need for initial military operations — from tanks and ammunition to food and water and from fuel to spare parts and engine oil.

SCOPE

The MPS fleet comprises 16 ships, including five that are operated by Maersk for the U.S. Marine Corps: M/V Pfc. James Anderson Jr., M/V Pfc. William B. Baugh, M/V 1st Lt. Alex Bonnyman, M/V Cpl. Louis J. Hauge Jr. and M/V Pvt. Franklin J. Phillips.

TIMELINE

The 25-year contract term began in September 1984 and extends through 2010 for some vessels.

WHO’S IN CHARGE

David Sloane, director of contract vessel management for Maersk. He joined the company in 1990, beginning his career as a seagoing deck officer serving on various U.S.-flag vessels including oil tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships. Sloane graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1982, and holds an MBA from Old Dominion University. His thoughts on MPS:

“It’s clear that the successor of this program is going to be the Maritime Prepositioning Force Future (MPF(F)) program, and we know now that, realistically, the program is not going to come online for maybe another decade. Our challenge is to make sure these ships can fill the gap. Keeping these ships maintained and mission-ready, and meeting the Marine Corps’ requirements until MPF(F), is going to be our challenge.

Prepositioning was not always known to be cost-effective. When the first Gulf War happened, these ships were able to be in the theater of operation a week later. When the Marines [got] to the first Gulf War, their equipment was there waiting for them. That was a huge success in proving the prepositioning process.

It is because of that that the Army got into the prepositioning business. When the Army realized it didn’t have that capability, it led to a billion-dollar shipbuilding program that the Army now has, including 15 ships that have prepositioning and sealift use. So the Army can do what the Marine Corps was already able to do based on the MPS program.

Very important for the success of the program is our ability to have access to trained and capable U.S.-citizen merchant mariners, because those are the ones that operate the ships and that is really a critical piece of the process — keeping experienced and trained merchant mariners actually on these ships and operating them.”