U.S. sends 5 more ships to help Haiti - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

U.S. sends 5 more ships to help Haiti

The U.S. is sending five auxiliary ships to Haiti to help unclog the bottleneck of aid shipments stuck offshore because they can’t be unloaded in the wrecked harbor of Port-au-Prince.

Two crane ships, a special causeway and barge-handling ship, a specialized oil-delivery ship and a high-speed ferry will join the armada of Navy, Coast Guard and Military Sealift Command vessels on station or converging on Haiti, responding to the humanitarian crisis that has developed in the wake of a devastating earthquake last week.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Monday he had ordered the U.S. Maritime Administration to sortie the crane ships Gopher State and Cornhusker State; the sea barge clipper Cape May; the offshore petroleum discharge ship Petersburg; and the high speed ferry Huakai, formerly one of the Hawaiian SuperFerries.

The combination of ships underscored the poor condition of the port of Port-au-Prince. With the city’s docks and cranes destroyed, response officials evidently felt it was quicker to call vessels that can temporarily take their place.

Here’s how it will probably work:

The Cape May can unload barges and causeway sections — which can be assembled by Seabees already dispatched to Port-au-Prince — to serve as a new floating dock. A U.S. or international cargo ship can pull in and use them to tie up. The Gopher State and Cornhusker State can use their cranes to unload food and medicine from the incoming vessels. Port workers can use the Petersburg to pump fuel ashore for generators, aircraft and ground vehicles.

“Within 48 hours of arrival on station, [Petersburg can begin] pumping 1.2 million gallons per day from up to four miles off shore and at water depths down to 200 feet. If the ship is moored within two nautical miles of the shore, two different products may be pumped simultaneously through two separate conduits,” according to information from MarAd.

The Huakai can transport passengers, vehicles or cargo at around 40 knots, so it could serve as a high-speed link between Haiti and Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or Miami.

MarAd’s announcement did not say when the ships were expected to sail or when they were expected to arrive in Haiti. A MarAd spokeswoman did not respond to Navy Times’ request for more information.

All but one of the ships announced Monday is sailing from Norfolk, Va. Petersburg’s homeport is Alameda, Calif., so it will have a longer journey through the Panama Canal before it reaches the Caribbean.

More coverage on the relief effort in Haiti