Maritime Administration highlights U.S. Merchant Mariner role supporting national security

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has released a three-part video series documenting the MV Cape Ray’s historic role supporting the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons at sea. The 648-foot roll-on/roll-off sealift vessel, part of MARAD’s ready Reserve Force, underwent historic modifications that converted the vessel into a floating chemical weapons destruction facility in 2014.

The three-part video series, documents the vessel’s unprecedented modification and the role U.S. citizen mariners played to enable the specially-trained personnel from the U.S. Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to safely and successfully neutralizes almost 500,000 liters of chemical agent.

This was the first time the United States neutralized chemical materials at sea. Significant changes made to the ship include the installation of a commercial-grade helicopter landing deck for emergencies, an environmental enclosure with carbon filtration and two Field Deployable Hydrolysis Systems to neutralize and convert chemical agent materials into liquid compounds not usable as weapons.

VIDEO: http://events.tvworldwide.com/MARAD/CapeRayVideoNewsRelease.aspx

About the Maritime Administration

The Maritime Administration’s mission is to foster and promote the U.S. Merchant Marine and the American maritime industry to strengthen the maritime transportation system -- including landside infrastructure, the shipbuilding and repair industry, and labor -- to meet the economic and national security needs of our Nation. Additional information about the mission can be found at http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2014/0114_caperay/