Maritime Administration and Preserve America

In 1995, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) established the Office of Environmental Activities to oversee environmental activities within MARAD and to ensure that MARAD's transportation decision making process actively includes consideration of preserving and protecting the human and natural environment to the greatest extent possible. MARAD has designated a Federal Preservation Officer and a ship historian and is in the process of conducting an agency-wide historic review of the agencies assets. An example is described below:

The Nuclear Ship SAVANNAH (NSS)

MARAD believes that the SAVANNAH is one of the most historically significant ships in existence today and worthy of preservation because it represents a high-water mark of American maritime interest, technology and development. As a matter of primary interest and necessity, the MARAD SAVANNAH program staff has concentrated on issues pertaining to the decommissioning and disposal of its nuclear reactor; however, MARAD has maintained a strong interest in the ship's preservation once the reactor has been removed.

Background

The Nuclear Ship SAVANNAH (NSS) was the world's first atomic-powered merchant ship, and the only such vessel built and operated in the United States. It was conceived and constructed as a joint project of MARAD and the Atomic Energy Commission as a demonstration of the peaceful uses of atomic power - part of President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" plan. The SAVANNAH operated in demonstration and experimental service from 1962 to 1970, fully realizing all the objectives set for it. The reactor was subsequently rendered permanently inoperable, and its Nuclear Regulatory Commission license was amended to a "possession-only" status. The SAVANNAH was bareboat chartered to the Patriots Point (South Carolina) Development Authority for use as a museum ship from 1981 to 1994. In 1994 it was returned to MARAD for drydocking, and was later placed in MARAD's James River Reserve Fleet for indefinite retention.

SAVANNAH Recognitions

• The SAVANNAH is a registered United States National Historic Landmark - one of the first ships to receive such distinction.
• The SAVANNAH is a registered International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
• The SAVANNAH is a registered landmark of the American Nuclear Society.

Our Vision for the SAVANNAH

MARAD envisions a public-private collaboration in which the Government retains ownership and supports the maintenance of the vessel, with private resources managing the operation of the vessel as a museum, conference and reception center. We are interested in developing partnerships with the many agencies that have been affiliated with the ship over the years. We believe that appropriate geographic venues for the vessel include Washington, DC; Savannah, GA; Camden, NJ; and Galveston, TX, which represent her homeport, namesake, birthplace and principal base of operations respectively. The SAVANNAH represents a living memorial to the American maritime industry.