Bids To C a r r y U.S. M i l i t a ry C a r g o For N e x t Six M o n t hs Increase O n A t l a n t i c Route

The Military Sealift Command has reported that bids to carry U.S. military cargo for the next six months have increased on the North Atlantic route while declining on shipments to the Far East. Coming in with the low of $17.54 per measurement ton on containerized military cargo to Europe, United States Lines beat American Automar at $17.80 and Sea-Land Service Inc. at $18.16.

Low bidders on the Pacific routes were Sea- Land offering $13.67 and $12.49 for the Korea and Okinawa routes, respectively, and APL submitting rates of $11.24 and $6.73 for the Philippines and Japan. The Sealift Command said the decrease in Pacific rates was due to increased competition and lower fuel cost, but did not explain the hike on the North Atlantic routes.

Gen. John Stanford said APL, Sea-Land and Lykes Bros. Steamship Co. have been asked to support their assertions that containers could handle 80 percent of military cargo being moved during an emergency. He said the Command is dubious that containerships could handle more than 20 percent of the supplies required in an emergency, citing the sheer volume of cargo needed to support a division of 18,000 men on a move from the U.S. to, for example, Korea. He also noted that containerizing equipment like heavy tanks would be more than a little difficult.

Lykes, the only carrier so far to respond to the query, said it would use flatcars and RO/RO vessels to handle oversized cargo. Another carrier, USL, said it could not accommodate the move in that it does not have what it believes is the required bulk space available.

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