Naval Sea Systems Command, a sub-agency of the US Navy, has declared the sale of the aircraft carriers USS Kitty Hawk and USS John F. Kennedy to the international company Shipbreaking Limited (ISL).
The warships are to be towed to Brownville, Texas for scrapping in the coming months. The ridiculous price of a penny is explained by the fact that the company will profit from the sale of the metal of the ship for scrap.
However, towing and dismantling is an expensive process. According to the daily Brownville Herald, the US Navy has previously paid large sums to recycle its ships.
“The contract gives the company the right to benefit from the subsequent sale of scrap steel, iron and non-ferrous metal ores,” the US Navy said in a statement.
If the two aircraft carriers were decommissioned in 2009 for the USS Kitty Hawk and in 2017 for the USS John F. Kennedy, they are nevertheless an integral part of history.
Both aircraft carriers were launched in the 1960s. The Kitty Hawk was deployed during the Vietnam War while the John F. Kennedy was mobilized for the Gulf War.
After decades of service, the US Navy sold two aircraft carriers to a shipbreaking company for 1 penny each. “The ridiculous price is because the company will profit from selling the ship’s metal for scrap,” officials said. Naval Sea Systems Command, a sub-agency of the US Navy, said it had agreed to sell the USS Kitty Hawk and USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carriers to International Shipbreaking Limited (ISL). She is based in Brownsville, Texas, USA Today reported .
Towing and dismantling ships is an expensive process, and the U.S. Navy has already paid ISL large sums to recycle its ships, the Brownsville Herald daily reported . “The contract gives the company the right to benefit from the subsequent sale of scrap steel, iron and non-ferrous metal ores,” said Alan Baribeau, spokesperson for Naval Sea Systems Command, in a statement. press release cited by USA Today.
Both aircraft carriers were launched in the 1960s and were capable of carrying dozens of planes. The Kitty Hawk was deployed during the Vietnam War and the John F. Kennedy participated in the Gulf War.
The USS Kitty Hawk was decommissioned in 2009 and the USS John F. Kennedy in 2017. Both have spent their time since being serviced in shipyards. The warships are to be towed to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping in the coming months, an ISL spokesperson said.
The US Navy announced on Wednesday that one of its helicopters had crashed off the coast of San Diego, in southern California, and that five people on board are missing.
A statement issued by the Naval Third Fleet said the MH-60S helicopter, which was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, crashed at sea while performing routine operations at around 60 nautical miles (approximately 111 km) off the coast of San Diego.
He added that the incident occurred on Tuesday evening at 4:30 p.m. PST (11:30 p.m. GMT).
The US Navy spokesman said: “Initial reports indicate that a crew member has been rescued and 5 others are missing,” ABC News reported.
He stressed that search efforts are continuing by sea and air to find the missing crew members, without providing further details on the condition of the person rescued, nor revealing the causes of the accident.
The helicopter crash came just 12 days after the assignment of command of the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln” to Captain Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to command a US Navy aircraft carrier.
