Crowley strengthens military position

The Maritime Administration of the United States Department of Transportation (MARAD) has selected Crowley-managed tankers to serve in its fleet. Under a US federal law, the Defense Department must establish a fleet of active, commercially viable, militarily useful and privately owned product tankers to meet national defence and other security requirements.

The initial fleet size is 10 vessels, and companies receive a stipend for each ship enrolled in support of the nation’s defence forces.

The selected Stena Bulk medium-range tankers are part of a joint venture between Crowley and Stena Bulk USA awarded Tanker Security Program participation.

Stena Immaculate, Stena Imperative and Stena Impeccable will be reflagged as US-registered vessels with US crews. The three tankers will continue international commercial operations but can be chartered on a short-term basis to serve the US government’s operations.

Crowley Government Solutions vice president Gavin Hughes said, “Crowley appreciates the US government and military’s continued trust in our capabilities to serve the nation’s needs. Crowley’s team with Stena Bulk offers government customers a deep, full suite of capabilities to maintain an efficient, dependable supply chain with management that adds value by being able to meet needs quickly and innovatively.”

Crowley and Stena Bulk have partnered before to serve the energy needs of the government and military. For example, Crowley won the Military Sealift Command charter contract in 2022 to run Stena Polaris, an ice-class tanker serving the bulk fuel needs of the US Department of Defense in the Arctic and Antarctic regions as well as transporting fuel in the Mediterranean Sea region.