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!

An eight-year-old oil/product tanker, (ex Pyxis Epsilon) was purchased by U.S. Marine Management and flagged into the United States registry as M/T Shenandoah Trader on December 15^th, 2023.  M/T Shenandoah Trader is participating in the newly formed Tanker Security Program by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).

The Tanker Security Program, or TSP, provides the Department of Defense (DoD) with access to a fleet of U.S. flagged oil/product tankers for use during times of armed conflict or national emergency.  The current TSP supports a fleet of ten commercial oil/product tankers operating internationally, capable of loading, transporting, and storing on-station bulk petroleum refined products to support national economic security and DoD contingency requirements.

The M/T Shenandoah Trader is currently supporting Military Sealift Command (MSC) in the Mediterranean Sea.

M/T Shenandoah Trader is crewed in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers (AMO) and in unlicensed positions by Seafarers International Union (SIU).

Early in 2023, A.P. Moller-Maersk decided to divest itself of U.S. Marine Management, Inc. (USMMI).  USMMI, the U.S. government contractor and tanker owner/operator no longer “fit” with the new APMM/Maersk Group portfolio of business as the Group becomes the “Global Integrator of Container Logistics.”  The Maersk Group hired an investment banking firm to solicit bids from potential buyers and Maritime Partners, LLC emerged as the successful bidder. 

On September 20^th, 2023, U.S. Marine Management, Inc. (USMMI) was acquired by Maritime Partners, LLC of Metairie, Louisiana.  USMMI, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), is now a U.S. owned, Jones Act qualified ship operating company based in Norfolk, Virginia with a fleet consisting of five oil/product tankers on charter to Military Sealift Command (MSC).  Maritime Partners, LLC is a U.S. company specializing in maritime financing solutions with a fleet of over 1,900 vessels. 

“We are excited to add USMMI to our portfolio,” said Bick Brooks, co-founder and CEO of Maritime Partners. “USMMI’s long-term contracts with a strong customer base will nicely complement our existing portfolio of assets by providing diversification across counterparties, assets and end markets.”  Maritime Partners said the deal is a “significant opportunity for portfolio diversification through the addition of a new vessel class with new capabilities, a new maritime market to serve and a new counterparty to its portfolio.”

USMMI’s management team remained fully intact throughout the recent ownership transition.  As a result, there is valued continuity of existing personnel with the same standards of excellence and commitment in place that have served USMMI’s primary customers, MSC and the U.S. Army with distinction for more than 40 years, while operating a broad range of vessels efficiently and cost-effectively.  U.S. Marine Management now qualifies as a Small Business concern.

USMMI will continue to grow existing business lines and create additional business lines that fit within the scope of USMMI’s ship ownership and management operations.  USMMI will also seek growth in new markets that will result in growth in U.S. Flag shipping fleet and create more employment positions for U.S. Mariners.

“We are excited to add USMMI to our portfolio,” said Bick Brooks, co-founder and CEO of Maritime Partners. “USMMI’s long-term contracts with a strong customer base will nicely complement our existing portfolio of assets by providing diversification across counterparties, assets and end markets.”

—CEO of Maritime Partners