SS Green Mountain State (Retention)

Green Mountain State is an Auxiliary Crane Ship (T-ACS).   T-ACS vessels are designed to offload commercial, non self-sustaining containerships in undeveloped or damaged ports.  Green Mountain State was originally built for Moore-McCormack Lines in 1965 as the break-bulk cargo ship Mormacaltair.  The ship was later “jumboized” and converted to a self-sustaining cellular containership.  Moore-McCormack sold the vessel to United States Lines, which renamed it, American Altair.  In 1987, American Altair entered the Beaumont Reserve Fleet in Beaumont, Texas, in preparation for a Maritime Administration/Military Sealift Command-directed conversion to a crane ship, which took place from February 1989 to September 1990.  The Maritime Administration purchased the vessel outright in March 1992 and it served in the Ready Reserve Force (RRF) until it was downgraded to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in July 2006.  The vessel is currently part of the NDRF retention program, where it is in logistic support status as a source of major equipment spares for its sister ship Pacific Tracker (formerly the RRF vessel Beaver State).