Society of Marine Port Engineers Provides Seed Funding for SL7EXPO

The SL7EXPO project, which aims to preserve one of the groundbreaking SL-7 Sea-Land Container ships as a commercial maritime exposition center in support of the SHIPS for America Act, has received seed funding from the Society of Marine Port Engineers.

Originally built by containerization innovator Malcolm McLean as 33 knot container ships, the eight SL-7 class ships were converted into Fast Sealift Ships by the US Government in the early 1980’s. Their conversion into Roll on/Roll off vessels provided the US Government with a massive tactical sea lift capability that was vital in military operations such as Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
All eight in this class are scheduled for scrapping starting in 2026.

Their excellent structural condition, ground breaking history and massive interior of unobstructed deck areas, makes them perfectly suited as Smithsonian level display, training and exposition centers to promote commercial maritime & intermodal awareness, public engagement, and employment in the maritime industry.

While the US Maritime fleet and commercial shipbuilding is small compared to other nations, the US maritime industry, and the associated intermodal industry, is massive and provides high paying nationwide employment.  Due to its high efficiency and generally seamless operation, there is little public awareness of employment opportunities in the maritime industry.  At present there is a very severe shortage of maritime personnel at all levels, whether as ships crews, shipyard technicians or design engineers.  

The use of an SL7 to promote employment within the industry would be a vital component for the SHIPS for America Act effort.
SL7EXPO is a small group of industry professionals that is promoting this concept.

Through its efforts the concept is gradually gaining more industry awareness, and already has received letters of support from a wide variety of industry members and organizations.
The Society of Marine Port Engineers (SMPE) was founded after World War II, when the US merchant fleet was the largest in the world, to support the education, welfare and technical advancement of Port Engineers.  Port Engineers are maritime engineering professionals who are responsible for the shore-based management of ship operations particularly with regard to vessel construction, maintenance and the resolution of shipboard technical issues.

The Society of Marine Port Engineers strongly supports the SL7EXPO effort.  Its board has provided seed funding from its educational foundation fund for the incorporation of SL7EXPO as a 501c3 and development of its social media.

SMPE Chairman David Tantrum commented: “SMPE is proud to be an early financial supporter of this important concept and hopes that this effort will gain further financial support from other maritime organizations.  SMPE and its member Port Engineers have always cooperated with both the US Government and Commercial Maritime entities and hopes that the SL7EXPO effort will proceed as a joint effort where the Government will provide a berth and annual maintenance for one of more of these impressive and suitable vessels, while the industry as a whole will provide the financing and resources for the programming.  It will be a win-win approach for the country, US citizens that are looking for stable and lucrative employment, and the industry as a whole.”

SL7EXPO member John Riddle commented: “As a retired Port Engineer I am delighted that SMPE is an early financial supporter of the SL7EXPO concept.  As a mariner I strongly feel that cooperation among maritime competitors is a unique feature of our industry and I hope that industry wide support of the concept will result in increased interest by the public in maritime careers and alleviate our present personnel shortage in all aspects of our industry.”  

For more information on SMPE contact David Tantrum at info@martinottaway.com (732) 224 1133 www.smpe.org
For more information on SL7Expo contact John Riddle at jriddle@comcast.net
For background info on SL7EXPO go to https://www.linkedin.com/company/sl7expo/

Sampling of Organizations providing official support:
Association of Maryland Pilots
Carver Marine Steel Works
Intrepid Museum
Liberty Nautical Education Center
Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey
Marine Design and Operations
Master, Mates & Pilots
Ocean Shipholding
Port of Coeymans
Scarano Boats
Sea Scouts Ship 228
Seafarers International Union

Photocredits:
USNS Bellatrix: US Navy photo now in the collections of the DoD as Department of Defense photo # DN-SC-85-10732
SL7 M&O: SS Sea-Land Galloway, Martin & Ottaway collection.