Early this morning, at 0152 EDT, 19 March 2024, USMMI sold the tanker Acadia Trader to a foreign Buyer, Trinity Maritime. She will be renamed World Trader I and operate under the flag of Panama.
Acadia Trader was purchased by MLL in 2011 after MLL won the first 59-month contract offered by MSC for an Ice-Classed Tanker. The MSC contract specified that the ship would support missions to McMurdo Station in Antarctica (Operation Deep Freeze) and the Air Force Base in Thule, Greenland (Operation Pacer Goose). USMMI/MLL was successful in the second 59-month Ice-Classed Tanker bid with MSC and completed 10 years under MSC long-term charter. While Acadia Trader could’ve performed a third 59-month charter with MSC, MSC chose to deselect Acadia Trader due to her age, stating that since the ship would reach the age of 20 years during the next 59-month contract, she would not be eligible for award. However, Acadia Trader continued to work under MSC short-term charter, from Dec 2021 until 04 March 2024 continuing to perform critical missions for MSC, in support of our Nation’s defense.
Acadia Trader participated Operation Deep Freeze 9 times, sailing to Antarctica during the Southern summer, carrying up to 200,000 bbls of diesel and jet fuel. This cargo provided all the fuel necessary to run the electric generators at McMurdo Station, fuel aircraft and other motor vehicles for up to two years. She also participated in Operation Pacer Goose, a voyage that sailed her on the West side of Greenland, 7 times during her time under ownership to USMMI providing a jet fuel to the US Air Force in northern Greenland.
Acadia Trader was built to the Finnish-Swedish ice class standard, 1B. She was not an icebreaker but was fitted with an “ice belt” to protect her from the ice she would encounter in the Polar regions. She was also constructed to operate for long periods of time in extreme cold weather, freezing sea water and ice-infested areas. Her engine delivered more power to ensure she was able to push through narrow ice channels and clear away any broken ice that was choking her progress. She also was fitted with a ice searchlight, which was rarely used as the times that Acadia Trader would enter the Polar regions, in the summertime in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, there was 24-hour daylight.
While USMMI owned Acadia Trader, the International Maritime Organization adopted a new regime for classifying and certificating ice-classed ships. As part of the new Polar Code, USMMI created a Polar Waters Operations Manual to comply with this new regime. The Captains and Deck Officers received specialized training at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Marine Institute, learning ice navigation techniques, ice-breaker operations and practiced maneuvering ships in ice in the Marine Institute’s full mission simulator. One Master reported “actual” ice training conducted in the St. John’s, Newfoundland, kayaking amongst ice bergs in the harbor.
In addition to the Acadia Trader’s missions in Polar regions, she was also tasked with performing Underway Replenishment (CONSOL) with MSC’s combat logistics ships. In 2011, the Acadia Trader was converted to conduct CONSOL, with purpose-built structure and rigging to deliver diesel and jet fuel to the MSC combat logistics fleet at sea. In 2019, USMMI developed an improved delivery system that provided for greater crew safety and decreased the risk of pollution while transferring cargo at sea. For most of the contracts with MSC, the CONSOL capability was under-utilized, until 2023 when the ship was awarded an MSC contract that was specifically for CONSOL operations in the Pacific Ocean, in support of the NATO / US Navy operation RIMPAC 2023. As part of this operation, Acadia Trader conducted 13 at-sea fuel deliveries in 35 days. This accomplishment made her the most experienced CONSOL tanker in the US fleet. Captain Michele Lupek commanded the ship during RIMPAC 2023, becoming the most experienced Master of CONSOL operations in the US fleet.
The Acadia Trader also received accolades for rescuing a shipwreck survivor in December of 2022 in the Mediterranean Sea as part of an international search party. The Master of Acadia Trader, Captain Mike Hatton spotted the floating survivor in the middle of the night using the ice searchlight. The ship’s rescue boat and crew were launched to retrieve the survivor from the cold, dark sea. The rescue boat crew stated that when they pulled the survivor from the sea, he was unresponsive, and his breath was weak and shallow. They transferred the survivor to an international coast guard ship for medical treatment. Captain Hatton was presented with a Rosette during the annual Admiral of the Ocean Seas award ceremony in New York City for saving a life at sea, on behalf of USMMI, the ship and her crew. The crew was also presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the US Coast Guard for their efforts to preserve life at sea.
The success of the Acadia Trader under USMMI’s ownership and operation is a tribute to many crewmembers from AMO and SIU as well as the awesome USMMI staff!!! We will be seeking to re-employ the crew of the Acadia Trader on USMMI’s next ship acquisition!
