MARAD recycles two more James River ships

The U. S. Maritime Administration has awarded contracts to recycle two more of the obsolete government-owned ships currently moored in the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) in Virginia. The Escape and the Cape Codwill be the 83rd and 84th ships to leave the JRRF since 2001.

The Escape (ARS-6) was built as a Navy rescue ship in 1942 by Basalt Rock Co. in Napa, Calif. The vessel supported the "Mercury" manned spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The Escape will be recycled at Bay Bridge Enterprises, LLC, of Chesapeake, Va., at a cost to the federal government of $115,200.

The Cape Cod (AD-43) was built as a destroyer tender in 1980 by National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., in San Diego. The Cape Cod will be recycled by All Star Metals, LLC, of Brownsville, Texas, for $328,122.