MV Cape Suarez Point (T-AKR 5590)

- formerly AL BATEEN, formerly JOLLY PALLADIO -

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Delivered in 2015 as commercial roll-on/roll-off and container-capable ship JOLLY PALLADIO, she was purchased by Abu Dhabi Ports in 2023, renamed AL BATEEN, before aquired by the Maritime Administration in early 2025. Renamed MV CAPE SUAREZ POINT (T-AKR 5590), she was subsequently prepared for military use and assigned to the Ready Reserve Force. CAPE SUAREZ POINT is presently maintained in reduced operating status in a layberth at Norfolk, Va.

General Characteristics:	Delivered: June 2015
	Builder: Stx Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Jinhae, South Korea
	Purchased by MARAD: January 2025
	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: 65,545 tons full load
	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: Norfolk, Va.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard MV CAPE SUAREZ POINT. 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 SUAREZ POINT History:

The motor vessel CAPE SUAREZ POINT (T-AKR 5590) is a modern roll-on/roll-off-capable cargo ship whose origins lie in a mid-2010s newbuilding program for the Italian operator Ignazio Messina & C. The ship was constructed at the STX shipyard at Jinhae, Republic of Korea, as a combined container and rolling-cargo carrier designed for scheduled liner operations. The commercial design emphasized "dual" cargo flexibility: roughly a little over 3,000 TEU of container capacity alongside approximately 6,350 linear meters of rolling-cargo lanes served by a heavy stern ramp rated around 350 tons, enabling the carriage of both containerized loads and vehicles/project cargo that benefit from drive-on/drive-off handling. The operator also described an environmental package incorporating exhaust-gas treatment equipment and noted that the vessel was built to an environmental notation ("Green plus") associated with the Italian classification and certification framework.

On June 24, 2015, following a christening ceremony at the STX facility in Korea, the ship - then trading commercially as JOLLY PALLADIO - departed the shipyard for Europe under its delivery voyage, carrying an initial load that included rolling stock. The operator stated at the time that the ship was expected to reach Genoa in early August 2015 and then be inserted into the company's regular liner services linking ports in the Mediterranean with ports in the Red Sea and the Middle East-routes whose commercial importance is closely tied to the Suez corridor and the wider geopolitical stability of the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea maritime approaches.

Following reported 2023 sales activity involving Messina's remaining ConRo ships to Abu Dhabi Ports/AD Ports Group, JOLLY PALLADIO was renamed to AL BATEEN around May 2024, associated with a new ownership/management structure tied to Safeen RoRo 42 Ltd and a flag change (commonly listed as the Marshall Islands). By January 2025, U.S. Coast Guard COFR status reporting still listed the vessel as AL BATEEN with Safeen RoRo 42 Limited as the responsible party, before the U.S. government takeover: the Maritime Administration's fleet inventory records title transfer to MARAD on January 23, 2025, and registry histories then show the ship reappearing under the U.S. identity CAPE SUAREZ POINT in April 2025. Upon entry into the U.S. government inventory, the ship is shown as assigned at Lambert's Point, Virginia, with an operating status of the Ready Reserve Force, i.e., a vessel maintained to support the Department of Defense surge sealift requirement when activated. As of the National Defense Reserve Fleet inventory report for the month ending December 31, 2025, CAPE SUAREZ POINT remains listed in the retention roll-on/roll-off division as a Ready Reserve Force "vehicle carrier", still assigned to Lambert's Point, Virginia.

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MV CAPE SUAREZ POINT Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CAPE SUAREZ POINT - still with the name AL BATEEN on the bow - at Lambert's Point, Norfolk, Va., on May 31, 2025.

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