Ships from Suisun May Go to South Pacific

Ships polluting the waters in Suisun Bay and waiting to be towed and scrapped, may be transported to South Pacific island.

A Northern Mariana Islands company has released plans to bid on ship disposal contracts, to potentially tow the vessels to the island's largest city, Saipan, for scrapping.

Local Port Authority officials agreed to lease dock and warehouse space to a company pursuing the contracts that would include the Suisun Bay fleet. This lease also allowed Worldwide Salvage Saipan to seek certification from Maritime Administration to recycle.

As a U.S. commonwealth, doing the work on the 14-island archipelago will not violate federal laws restricting the disposal of U.S. ships to scrapping yards or violate the international ban on exporting toxic vessels.

More than 50 ships scheduled for disposal and scrapping are in the Suisun Bay fleet.