The following is text of a news release from Philly Shipyard:
(PHILADELPHIA) — Philly Shipyard Inc., the sole operating subsidiary of Philly Shipyard ASA, has been awarded a dry-docking contract for the Ready Reserve Force vessel FSS Pollux. The vessel is owned by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MarAd) and managed by TOTE Services LLC, an industry leader in ship management, marine operations and vessel services. The vessel undergoes routine repair and maintenance during its scheduled dry docking every few years. TOTE, as ship manager for MarAd, awarded the contract to Philly Shipyard.
FSS Pollux is an Algol-class vehicle cargo ship, and is the sister ship to FSS Antares, which is currently docked at Philly Shipyard for routine maintenance and repair. Work on FSS Pollux is planned to commence after completion of work on FSS Antares, and is expected to last approximately three months. Philly Shipyard’s objective remains to secure a mix of government and commercial newbuild contracts, while also winning repair and maintenance contracts that allow the yard to continuously utilize its dryd ocks.
Ready Reserve Force (RRF) vessels are designed to support rapid worldwide deployment of equipment and supplies to U.S. armed forces. MarAd’s 46 RRF vessels, which are anchored throughout the U.S., play a wide variety of vital roles — from serving as training platforms for government agencies to providing rapid humanitarian response in times of emergencies.
