On April 26, 2021, the Maritime Administrator approved the replacement of the APL GUAM in the Maritime Security Program (MSP) with the CMA CGM HERODOTE.  Like the APL GUAM, the replacement vessel will be a geared containership, but will have a militarily useful capacity of 1149 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) as compared with the APL GUAM’s militarily useful capacity of 854 TEUs.  The replacement vessel will be reflagged to U.S. registry and expected to begin operations in the first half of May. Additional information can be found at the following link.

The Maritime Security Fleet supports a strong U.S. Merchant Marine in protecting U.S. national security by providing the Department of Defense (DOD) with a powerful, mobile, privately-owned U.S.-flag and U.S.-crewed fleet of commercial ships to call on in times of conflict or other national emergencies. Managed by the Maritime Administration, the MSP guarantees access to commercial sealift and the intermodal capabilities necessary to meet U.S. wartime requirements. Passed by Congress in 1996, the MSP has since proven to be a key component in U.S. commercial sealift capacity, recognized by Congress as the critical 4^th arm of the U.S. Department of Defense.