Sealift

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Sealift operation from World War II.

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The USNS Bob Hope, a non-combatant vessel crewed by civilian mariners under the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command,<a
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The USNS Bob Hope, a non-combatant vessel crewed by civilian mariners under the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command, is used to preposition tanks, trucks and other wheeled vehicles and supplies needed to support an Army heavy brigade.

Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, military personnel, and materiel supplies. it complements other means of transport, such as strategic airlifters, in order to enhance a state's ability to project power. A state's sealift capabilities may include civilian-operated ships that normally operate by contract, but which can be chartered or commandeered during times of military necessity to supplement government-owned naval fleets.

Sealift shipping falls into three broad categories: dry cargo freighters, liquid tankers, and passenger ships. During joint operations, dry cargo ships may transport equipment and supplies required to conduct and sustain the operation; tankers carry fuel; and passenger ships provide troop carrying, noncombatant, or medical evacuation capability.

While ships are slower than their airborne counterparts and may require port facilities to unload their cargo, their larger hauling capacity allows them to transport heavy armoured forces or bulky supplies that only the largest strategic airlifters (such as the C-5 Galaxy) could normally handle, and in much greater quantities.

[edit] Civilian use

Sealift refers to the re-supply of isolated communities with fuel, building materials, foodstuffs, vehicles and other goods. This is the most common method used in the Canadian Arctic due to the lower cost and the larger capacity of ships and barges over aircraft. an annual occurrence in the Arctic, the sealift is usually performed between July and October, when the sea is ice free.

Typically two types of ships are used, the older less seen cargo ship and the more usual tugboat. While both types would also haul barges the cargo ship would have also carried cargo on deck. Most Arctic communities do not have a port and cranes to unload the supplies but may have a simple dock. Where the community does not have a dock, the ship would either have to ground itself or the barges. Supplies are then removed by forklift truck which would also be carried on board. The interior of the barges are used to carry the fuel and the other supplies carried in containers on deck.