Both the Royal Navy’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command are sidelining some of their ships because of crew shortages, according to new reports. Both organizations have had serious recruitment and retention issues for years, and the decision to stack tonnage has been long in coming.
Not enough mariners, not enough leave
Military Sealift Command is the civilian-crewed auxiliary force for the U.S. Navy, and its vessels keep the rest of the fleet running. MSC dry stores ships and fleet oilers provide ammunition and fuel to keep surface combatants in the fight, and an array of special-purpose auxiliaries – submarine trackers, surveillance ships, salvage tugs and other specialized vessels – serve non-combat needs that would be expensive to fulfill otherwise.
Among U.S. merchant mariners, MSC is known for good pay and long contracts. Because of a persistent personnel shortage, a four-month scheduled hitch can turn into eight months or more while the mariner awaits the assignment of his or her relief. Due to the Pentagon’s vacation accrual policies, the limited leave that is available may be partly unpaid.
These conditions have been common knowledge for decades, but in a tight market, skilled mariners have many options in commercial maritime and may select a private employer with a more family-oriented rotation schedule. According to USNI, MSC’s roster has thinned, and it now has about 1.3 mariners for every seagoing billet – too few to provide consistent rotations for the 4,500 crewmembers who are on board at any given time.
To improve this ratio, MSC is seeking approval for a plan to sideline all 12 of its actively serving expeditionary fast transports (EPFs), along with two civilian-crewed sea base ships, two Lewis & Clark-class dry cargo replenishment ships and one fleet oiler, according to USNI. By cutting as many as 700 seagoing billets, MSC could boost its mariner-to-billet ratio from 1.3 to 1.5 and improve quality of life for its seagoing personnel.
Some of the sidelined vessels are among MSC’s newest and best-known ships. The expeditionary fast transports are high-speed intratheater fast ferries, built in aluminum for light weight and fitted with a ramp for vehicle loading. They have a capacity of 600 tonnes, a top speed of up to 45 knots and a 26-member civilian crew, and are commonly used for goodwill port calls and relief missions.
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