If you've followed our Pier 80 Today® series, you've probably noted a couple of naval-looking vessels moored on the south edge, in what is called the Islias Creek Channel. They are Algol and Capella, and if you don't give a hoot about ships, stop reading now. $tslaQ $TSLA
Along with 6 sister vessels, Algol and Capella are the fastest cargo ships in the world, cruising at 33 knots or better. Although there's not a hint of GLOVIS about them, they are RoRo ships, fast sealift for military vehicles. In ready reserve, they can be activated in 96 hours.
The class of 8 were built as container ships for Sea-Land in 1972-73, but operating costs proved too high for profitability. The Navy bought them all in 1981 and converted them for vehicle cargo. Unlike many government bailouts, this one appears to have been a pretty fair deal.
In the Gulf War, the 8 ships hauled 14% of all cargo from the US to the Middle East, a job that would have required 116 WWII Liberty ships to complete in the same time. They cost about $40M/year to maintain. We might need them again, so keep those quarterly payments coming, OK?
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