Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of
A reserve fleet may be colloquially referred to as a "ghost fleet".[1] In the 21st century, ghost fleet may also refer to an active shadow fleet of aged reserve fleet oil tankers returned to an active service in order to circumvent commodities sanctions.[2][3][4]
Overview
Such ships are held in reserve against a time when it may be necessary to call them back into service. They are usually tied up in backwater areas near naval bases or shipyards in order to speed the reactivation process. They may be modified for storage during such a period, for instance by having rust-prone areas sealed off or wrapped in plastic or, in the case of sailing warships, the masts removed. While being held in the reserve fleet, ships typically have a
When a ship is placed into reserve status, the various parts and weapon systems that the ship uses are also placed in a storage facility, so that if the warship is reactivated, the proper spare parts and ammunition are available. Like the ships, however, the stored parts and equipment are prone to fall into disrepair, suffer metal corrosion, and become obsolete.
Principal reserve fleets
The British Reserve Fleet was a repository for British decommissioned warships from about 1800 until 1960.[5]
The
Alternatives
In practice most reserve ships rapidly become obsolete and are scrapped, used for experiments, target practice, sold to other nations (and occasionally to private companies for civilian conversion), become museum ships or artificial reefs.
Alternatives to reserve fleets include exporting the vessels for
Recycling is another option, as in the case of the United States National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF), the ships of which are set to be stripped of their paint, cut into pieces, and then recycled.[6]
Steel from pre-nuclear age ships either mothballed or sunk and raised, called
Environmental concerns
The practice of exporting and dismantling ships has caused international protests as they contain toxic materials.[7] In 2007, following studies that found that 20 tons of lead paint had flaked off the ships of the NDRF, environmentalist groups sued to have them removed. The U.S. Federal Maritime Administration agreed to remove more than 50 of the ships as a result, 25 of which have been removed by 2012 and the remainder removed at the end of 2017.[6]
See also
- Aircraft boneyard
- National Defense Reserve Fleet
- Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
- United States Navy reserve fleets
References
- ^ "Nuclear 'ghost' to leave James River Reserve Fleet". Daily Press. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ^ "Russia relies on 'shadow fleets' to save oil exports - UK Daily News". 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ^ Chambers, Sam (2023-02-23). "Splash investigation pinpoints the true scale of the shadow tanker fleet". Splash247. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- ^ "Reserve Fleet 1950". British Pathe. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d Wollan, Malia (March 31, 2010). "California: Good-Bye to Ghost Fleet". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ^ a b US Toxic 'ghost fleet' not wanted in the UK, Greenpeace International website (November 5, 2003) accessed at [1] June 20, 2006
- S2CID 33969697.
Further reading
- Daniel Madsen. Forgotten Fleet. The Mothball Navy. U.S. Naval Institute Press. 1999.
- To Sail No More. Seven volumes. Maritime Books. United Kingdom.
- P.W. Singer and August Cole. Ghost Fleet. Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2015.