SMPE Provides Funding To Preserve Historic SL-7 Sea-Land Container Ship

The Society of Marine Port Engineers (SMPE) has provided seed funding to support the SL7EXPO project, a new initiative aiming to preserve one of the SL-7 Sea-Land container ships and convert it into a maritime exposition center under the SHIPS for America Act.

The SL-7 ships were originally designed by Malcolm McLean, a pioneer of container shipping, as high-speed 33-knot commercial container vessels. In the early 1980s, all eight ships in the class were taken over by the U.S. Government and converted into Fast Sealift Ships.

Their conversion into roll-on/roll-off vessels significantly increased the military’s ability to move equipment quickly during operations like Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Now, all eight SL-7 ships are scheduled to be scrapped starting in 2026.

SL7EXPO is a group of maritime professionals promoting the idea of saving one of these ships and turning it into a floating museum, training facility, and maritime industry awareness center. The team believes the ship’s large open interior decks, strong structural condition, and historic importance make it ideal for this role.

The purpose of the project is to educate the public about the maritime and intermodal industries and to promote careers in these fields.

Right now, there is a serious shortage of skilled workers in the maritime industry, including crew members, shipyard workers, and engineers. Supporters of SL7EXPO believe that using one of the SL-7 ships as an education and promotion center could help address this workforce crisis.

The SL7EXPO effort has slowly gained support across the industry and has already received letters of support from various maritime companies and organisations.

The Society of Marine Port Engineers, which was founded after World War II to support the education and technical development of port engineers, has now offered financial support.

The group has provided seed money from its educational foundation fund to help SL7EXPO become a registered nonprofit organization (501c3) and to start building its social media presence.

According to SMPE, port engineers are shore-based marine engineering professionals responsible for ship maintenance, construction, and resolving technical problems. The group has a long history of working with both the U.S. Government and private shipping companies.

The chairman of SMPE shared that the organisation is proud to be an early supporter of the SL7EXPO idea. He said the group hopes the government will provide a permanent berth and annual maintenance for one or more of the SL-7 ships, while the maritime industry contributes funding and resources to run the programming. He described the effort as a win-win for the country, its citizens, and the maritime sector.

Reference: SMPE

Source: Maritime Shipping News