Agency Seeks Bids for Scrapping Ghost Fleet Ships

Four high-risk James River Reserve Fleet ships containing PCBs, oil, asbestos and mercury could be headed to the scrap yard by March or April.

The Maritime Administration has issued a request for bids to dismantle the Santa Isabel, Mormac Dawn, Santa Elena and Catawba Victory as part of a $31 million effort to dispose of ships that pose a potential environmental threat if their contents were to spill into the river.

The ships are considered high risk, according to the bid solicitation, because of their poor structural condition. Only domestic scrap yards are being considered for the work because the ships are in too bad of shape to be towed overseas.

That won't be the case in the future as MARAD explores additional options to dispose of the ships, said Robyn Boerstling, a spokeswoman for the agency.

"We are in the process of developing a pilot program to scrap ships overseas under tightly controlled conditions," said Boerstling. "We are not talking about closing our eyes to how the ships would be dismantled."

U.S. environmental laws are strict as to how hazardous materials -- such as PCBs, mercury and asbestos -- are handled and disposed of. That is not always the case in other countries, especially poor countries.

This is the first invitation for bid on the derelict ships but probably won't be the last, Boerstling said.

Domestic scrapping of the four ships is expected to cost about $2.5 million per ship.