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Ex-Saipan begins journey to scrap yard

Tugs towed the amphibious assault ship formerly known as the Saipan out of its mothball berth in Philadelphia on Wednesday, beginning the ship’s final trip to sea — one that will end at the scrap yard.

The Saipan is scheduled to arrive mid-November in Brownsville, Texas, where workers at International Shipbreaking Ltd. will begin cutting the 28,000-ton ship apart.

The Saipan was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry in 2007 — which technically means it’s the “ex-Saipan” — after almost 30 years in service. It’s the first of the Tarawa-class big-deck gators to be scrapped. The Tarawa was decommissioned and the Belleau Wood was sunk as a target; two others, the Peleliu and Nassau, are still in service.

The Saipan will be the largest ship that International Shipbreaking has ever scrapped, said Jason Classcock, the company’s environmental and safety project manager. As they tear apart the ship, workers will remove asbestos and other harmful materials, and also will return some items to the Navy, he said, including the ship’s screws.

The Navy paid 2 cents for the ship-breaker to tow the Saipan away and scrap it, “which represents the net cost to the government,” said Monica McCoy, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command. International Shipbreaking is then entitled to whatever it makes from re-selling the scrap.