The Maritime Subsidy Board has approved Delta Steamship Lines' application for construction-differential subsidy (CDS) to increase the cargo-handling capability of two breakbulk vessels that it operates in its subsidized foreign service.
The total approved CDS amount is $534,792.69, or 32.11 percent of the cost of $832,751 for the reconstruction of each vessel. The work will be done under a fixed-price contract negotiated by Delta with Buck Kreihs Company of New Orleans, and will involve the replacement of existing five-ton-capacity cranes with 25-ton cranes, plus the installation of necessary fittings to each of the two C3-class vessels, the Del Valle and the Del Monte.
The Board also determined that a price of $29,030 for additional spares and container fittings was fair and reasonable for each of the vessels but was not eligible for subsidy. Those costs would be met by Delta.