USNS Courier (MARAD hull AK-5019) was a cargo ship of the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

. The cargo ship was built by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock, Chester, PA, at the request of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD hull 124) in 1962. The ship is 470 ft in length and has a breath of 73 and weighs 11420 tons, empty. The ship was originally administered by American Export Lines under the civilian name SS Export Courier and eventually became part of the James River Reserve Fleet. The company ran into financial trouble in 1977. Before 1981, Farrell Lines

Farrell Lines

Farrell lines Incorporated was named in 1948 after James A. Farrell Jr., and John J. Farrell, sons of James A Farrell Sr., president of US Steel. The company was previously known as American South African Lines . It was a passenger/cargo line in regular service from New York to South Africa...

, which took over parts of the dissolved American Export Lines, transferred administration of the Courier to the Military Sealift Command, which renamed the ship USNS Courier. The ship was officially accepted as part of the Maritime Administration in February 1983. From 1981 it was stationed with the Beaumont Reserve Fleet or docked at Port Neches, Beaumont Texas. Service records indicate repairs after Operation Desert Storm. In 2001 the ship was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet and remained in this status until July 2008 when it was sold to Southern Scrap Metal Corporation of New Orleans' Louisiana and subsequently transferred to New Orleans' Industrial Canal

Industrial Canal

The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal...

 on August 13, a little more than two weeks before Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav

The name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage was reported....

 reached Louisiana's southeastern Coast.

Adrift and grounding during Gustav

During the night of August 31, 2008 or early morning of September 1, 2008, as a weak category-3 hurricane Gustav approached the coast of Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, at least two clusters of ships were dislodged from their moorings and broke free. The Courier was shown in video coverage to be one of three vessel grounded on an embankment approaching the L & N railroad bridge near the I-10

Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...

 'high' bridge. On September 3, 2008, Joel Dupree of Southern Scrap Metal Corp. claimed the Courier has been removed from its position in front of the Almonaster Avenue Bridge

Almonaster Avenue Bridge

The Almonaster Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bridge has two vehicular lanes of Almonaster Road and two railroad tracks over the Industrial Canal.The bridge is named after Almonaster Avenue on which it is built...

 and remoored at the scrap metal yard. Dupree claims the Core of Engineers were testing locks on the Industrial canal at the Mississippi river that prevented moving the ships prior to Gustav, and that the Courier was properly anchored during the storm, however the level of the surge and winds were sufficient to break their moorings. The USCG however said that it had recommended that ships double-up mooring lines prior to the storm. Other recommendations such as sinking the bow of the ship and setting anchor close to ships and barges were recommended as possible preventive measures. So far it is not clear on what the US Coast Guard instructed dock managers to do, or what action company officials took.

In addition to the risk to the rail bridge, the two accompanying barges apparently hit and damaged a warehouse along the western side of the Industrial canal near the bridge. Two other naval ships, the and were involved in separate incidences at the Florida Avenue Bridge

Florida Avenue Bridge

The Florida Avenue Bridge is a vertical lift bridge spanning the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bridge has one railroad track, two vehicle lanes and two sidewalks...

 and pump station. As a consequence of these events all vessels to be removed from the Industrial Canal in advance of gale-force wind conditions, and Southern Scrap Metal Corporation was told to remove all floating vessels for the duration of the
2008 season

2008 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was a very active hurricane season with sixteen named storms formed, including eight that became hurricanes and five that became major hurricanes. The season officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of...

.