Page 17: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2026)

RADM BENJAMIN NICHOLSON, COMMANDER

Watch the full Maritime Matters:

The MarineLink Podcast interview with RADM Benjamin Nicholson,

Commander, U.S. Navy Military

Sealift Command here: government-owned, contract-operated vessels crewed by Nicholson also sees MSC’s chartering practices as poten- approximately 1,500 contract mariners. Add an average of tially important to broader U.S. commercial ? eet renewal. roughly 61 chartered vessels, a ? gure that ? uctuates with Longer-term charter commitments, he suggested, could requirements, and Nicholson puts MSC’s total ? eet under provide operators with the demand signal needed to secure its purview at approximately 166 ships. ? nancing for new vessels rather than requiring the govern-

Government-owned ships are typically operational ment to own every ship itself. about 60% of the time, Nicholson said, with roughly 40% of their time involving maintenance in some form. “That People Make the Logistics Chain Work becomes more dif? cult as the ships start to get older,” he MSC’s ? eet ultimately exists for one reason: to keep said. “You need a little bit more maintenance, a little more the Navy supplied. Nicholson describes the Navy-Marine love and care to keep those ships going.” Age is increas- Corps team as “America’s away team,” capable of operat- ingly part of MSC’s ? eet equation. ing far from home without depending entirely on nearby

Nicholson puts ? eet replenishment oilers high on his re- bases because MSC provides the continuing ? ow of fuel, capitalization list, particularly accelerating introduction of ammunition, food and repair parts.

the new 205-class ships to replace the aging 187-class oilers. That makes ships essential. It makes maintenance es-

In commercial shipping, Nicholson notes, recapitaliza- sential. It makes shipbuilding essential. But it circles back tion commonly occurs around 20 to 25 years. Some of to Nicholson’s ? rst priority: people. The command has al-

MSC’s 187-class oilers could reach 40, 46 or even 48 years ready learned what happens when the mariner equation before retirement. “That is a lot of strain on a ship to do does not balance. Ships had to be removed from operation that,” Nicholson said, particularly given the physical de- because there were not enough people to sustain the ? eet mands of underway replenishment. properly. Today, the numbers are improving, compensation

The Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships are themselves is more competitive and overdue relief has been sharply re- approaching the 20-year mark, while MSC’s hospital ships duced, but the journey from roughly 6,200 CIVMARs to and submarine tenders present additional aging-? eet chal- Nicholson’s target of 9,300 remains substantial.

lenges. Nicholson believes the answer should involve more For young mariners weighing career choices, MSC is mak- than simply replacing old ships one class at a time. ing a clearer pitch than it has in the past: competitive six-

He advocates greater commonality across future MSC ves- ? gure earnings, large signing bonuses for licensed of? cers, sels. Hospital ships, submarine tenders and other platforms paid education and training, a path from the hawsepipe to perform very different missions, but that does not necessarily the wheelhouse, improved connectivity and the opportunity mean their basic machinery and systems must be entirely dif- to do work unlike most commercial shipping.

ferent. “They could have common engineering plants, com- As Nicholson put it, an MSC mariner is not simply car- mon propulsion systems, common ship control systems,” rying cargo between two ports. Much of the job happens

Nicholson said. The mission-speci? c portions could change between those ports, conducting underway replenishment while the basic platform remains substantially common. and supporting naval operations at sea.

That could lower lifecycle costs through common training “It’s when they’re doing those underway replenishments, and spare parts while giving shipyards the bene? t of repeti- it’s when we’re doing those things that no one else can do tion. “The more we can have commonality between vessels, like we can do,” Nicholson said. “And that is so super ex-

I believe the faster we can have ships coming out,” he said. citing. It’s a lot of adventure.” www.marinelink.com 17

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