Navy Contracting: Ship Chartering Practices of the Military Sealift Command

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Military Sealift Command's (MSC) chartering practices, focusing on: (1) the status of two protested tanker charters to replace one carrier's ships; (2) whether MSC considered special features on the carrier's ships during proposal evaluation which might improve their military usefulness; (3) whether MSC considered the possibility of the carrier defaulting on government loans when it awarded the charters to other companies; and (4) MSC chartering policies.