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B-229174.2 1 (1988-03-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadumd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: t*7 i ,,! .,,Comptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 B-229174.2 March 8, 1988 The Honorable Jack Brooks Chairman, Legislation and National Security Subcommittee Committee on Government Operations House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: By letter dated February 16, 1988, you asked whether the Department of the Navy, Military Sealift Command (MSC), or the Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration (MarAd), has peacetime jurisdiction to administer and control the Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF), a reserve fleet of government-owned merchant ships. The Navy maintains that the RRF is not a functional element of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF), which MarAd administers and controls, and because of this and the fact that RRF ships are acquired with funds appropriated to Navy, RRF vessels are subject to Navy's control. MarAd disagrees. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that MarAd is responsible for the peacetime administration and control of the RRF. BACKGROUND A defense reserve of merchant ships is not a new idea. When the United States after World War I began to retire its fleet of merchant vessels from service, a defense reserve of merchant vessels was established. Prior to World War II, some of these vessels were reactivated to support our armed forces. At the conclusion of World War II, the Congress enacted the Merchant Ship Sales Act of 1946 (the Act), section 11 of which directed the Maritime Commission (a MarAd predecessor) to place certain ships in a ational defense reserve, known as the NDRF. 50 U.S.C.App. S 1744 (1986). Section 11 of the Act provides that the Secretary of Transportation shall place in a national defense reserve certain vessels owned by the Department of Transportation which the Secretary determines, after consultation with the ..Secretary of the Army and the Navy, should be retained for the national defense. Section 11 further provides that unless otherwise provided by law, all vessels placed in such reserve shall be preserved and maintained by the Secretary of Transportation for the purpose of national defense. Finally, it provides that a vessel placed in such

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