MV Cape Starr (T-AKR 5588)

- formerly JOLLY PERLA -

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Delivered in 2012 as commercial roll-on/roll-off and container-capable ship JOLLY PERLA, she was purchased by the Maritime Administration in 2023 and was subsequently prepared for military use. Renamed MV CAPE STARR (T-AKR 5588), she was assigned to the Ready Reserve Force. CAPE STARR is presently maintained in reduced operating status in a layberth at Portsmouth, Va.

General Characteristics:	Delivered: April 19, 2012
	Builder: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., Geoje, South Korea
	Purchased by MARAD: October 2023
	Propulsion system: Single low-speed diesel main engine (HHI Engine & Machinery Division 7L70ME-C8), 22,890 kW at 108 rpm
	Propellers: one
	Length: 784 feet (239 meters)
	Beam: 123 feet (37.5 meters)
	Draft: 37.7 feet (11.5 meters)
	Displacement: 21,397 tons light
	Speed: 21.5 knots
	Aircraft: none
	Armament: none
	Capacity: Militarily useful capacity 220,593 sq ft; 1,306 TEU
	Crew: approx. 10 civilian mariners in ROS
	Homeport: Portsmouth, Va.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard MV CAPE STARR. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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MV CAPE STARR History:

CAPE STARR (T-AKR 5588) began life as the roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel JOLLY PERLA, built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for the Italian operator Ignazio Messina & C. JOLLY PERLA was delivered on April 19, 2012 and entered commercial service in 2012 as part of Messina's modern "con-ro" (container-plus-vehicle) fleet, designed around a large internal vehicle deck arrangement (often expressed in "lane meters" of roll-on/roll-off capacity) in addition to container capability. In June 2019, Mediterranean Shipping Company's investment and related restructuring around Messina's vehicle fleet was publicly reported to include JOLLY PERLA among the modern con-ro ships tied to the arrangement, providing context for how the vessel sat within Messina's broader corporate fleet strategy in the years before sale.

By May 18, 2023, industry reporting described Messina as selling three of its large con-ro/ro-ro cargo ships for United States strategic sealift service, including JOLLY PERLA, as the company reshaped its fleet. The U.S. government transition moved into the open record later that year: on October 4, 2023, title to the ship transferred to the United States Maritime Administration and the vessel appeared in Maritime Administration inventory tracking as CAPE STARR. Early in this government phase, the ship's Ready Reserve Force administrative record reflected that it was still in the "brought-into-service" pipeline rather than an established reserve hull: in October 2023, inventory updates recorded a homeport/layberth change for CAPE STARR from the Lambert's Point area to Portsmouth, Virginia, matching the period when newly acquired ships were being positioned for inspection, conversion work, regulatory compliance actions, and readiness certification steps.

On January 17, 2024, Maritime Administration remarks to industry described the broader acquisition effort of multiple used roll-on/roll-off ships and indicated CAPE STARR was part of that near-term delivery stream, with work aimed at meeting strategic sealift requirements through commercial-to-government conversion practices (including the regulatory and operational steps needed for a reserve vessel expected to activate rapidly when tasked). On February 27, 2024, internal inventory remarks captured that CAPE STARR's title transfer had occurred on October 4, 2023 and associated the ship with an estimated initial operational capability target in fiscal year 2024's third quarter, consistent with a conversion-and-certification timeline rather than a ship immediately "ready on day one". Through at least May 31, 2025, Maritime Administration inventory still listed CAPE STARR in the Ready Reserve Force with Portsmouth, Virginia as its assigned location, indicating the ship remained part of the strategic sealift reserve force structure.

Publicly visible evidence of CAPE STARR's operational employment under the Ready Reserve Force construct became clearer in September 2025. During September 18-19, 2025, a U.S. Transportation Command leadership visit at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina included a tour of CAPE STARR while it was being loaded with military vehicles - an unambiguous indicator that the ship was acting in its intended roll-on/roll-off sealift role, with cargo operations tied to a real movement rather than a purely administrative reserve status. Later that month, during September 26-27, 2025, another U.S. Transportation Command senior leader visit took place aboard CAPE STARR in Panama, linking the ship to a broader multimodal movement effort. On October 22, 2025, Crowley - identified as CAPE STARR's vessel manager for the Maritime Administration under the vessel acquisition manager framework - publicly described CAPE STARR as a Maritime Administration Ready Reserve Force roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel, noted that it was operating under Captain Kevin Wood with a crew drawn from the American Mariners Organization and Seafarers International Union, and stated that the ship was deployed following activation from the Norfolk, Virginia, area in support of a U.S. Transportation Command mission. Crowley also framed the September 2025 delivery movement as part of "Turbo Fusion", a government-designed multimodal operation intended to exercise large-scale movement and readiness in a contested-environment planning context - placing CAPE STARR's late-September loading and Panama presence into an explicit strategic-mobility exercise/operation narrative rather than an isolated one-off voyage.

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MV CAPE STARR Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CAPE STARR - still with the name JOLLY PERLA on the bow - at Portsmouth, Va., on October 9, 2023.