A sad end for US Coast Guard Cutter Storis.

[bluedigger]

In 2009, Congress mandated that all government vessels be recycled in the United States. The 1970 Bank Secrecy Act and the 2001 PATRIOT Act imposed additional reporting requirements concerning international wire transfers over $10,000. Finally, the Freedom of Information Act requires the government to share information in a timely manner. What do they all have in common? The former Coast Guard Cutter STORIS that was scrapped in Mexico in 2013.

The Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 is crystal clear: “no vessel that is owned by the Government of the United States shall be approved for export to a foreign country for purposes of dismantling, recycling, or scrapping.” Exceptions can be made but only if a four-pronged test is met: compelling need to dismantle the vessel; lack of availability in the United States; foreign dismantlement will be in compliance with U.S. law; and the export of the vessel will only be for dismantlement. This high bar is capped with notification to the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate that the exemption is granted.

Someone forgot to tell the General Services Administration (GSA) about the 2009 law. In late June 2013, GSA auctioned off the STORIS to a buyer who immediately sent her to Mexico to be scrapped. Through papers released by GSA via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), some interesting details have emerged about the sale of the vessel.

For starters, the buyer completed the purchase using funds attained from an international wire. The Bank Secrecy Act and the PATRIOT Act requires the individual who sent the money to be identified. There is no indication in the GSA documents that the agency asked for this information. Similarly, there is no indication that GSA questioned why the buyer would need to receive an international wire of $50,000 to complete the purchase of a former U.S. military vessel, a ship that required the involvement of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Maritime Administration (MARAD), the Defense Department, and the U.S. State Department to authorize export.

http://maritime-executive.com/editorials/where-did-the-maritime-heritage-grant-money-go-part-2

The Storis was the first US vessel to circumnavigate North America and was placed on the National Historic Register in 2012.

[NBachers]

1. Reading the article, I get the impression that some criminal fixing was afoot. If so,

who goes to prison?

[riderinthestorm]

2. K&R a small peek into the shadowy world of the PTB that traffick in arms dealing

of course they'd also know how to traffick scap...

Follow the $$

[madville]

3. I'm impressed they got 50k for it

usually they give the things away or sell them for $1

[vinny9698]

4. Very expensive to recycle vessels

In Brownsville, Texas there are vessel recyclers, hazardous materials are in those vessels. But there are shops where you can very cheap nautical items from those ships. Blankets, plates, beds, etc.