U.S. Navy Increasingly Turning to Commercial Tankers for At-Sea Refueling Operations

The U.S. Navy is increasingly relying on consolidated cargo operations (CONSOL) with commercial tankers to support its global fleet, marking a strategic shift in the service’s fleet refueling operations.

Last month, the Overseas Shipholding Group’s tanker Overseas Mykonos transferred fuel to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), becoming the first commercial tanker to fuel a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in decades.

The shift gained momentum when the commercial tanker Stena Polaris conducted a similar operation with the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) on November 26, 2024, while supporting U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa operations.

Naval expert Sal Mercogliano explains: “They re-started CONSOLs back in 2015 and have been doing them on and off since then… However, refueling of carriers from commercial tankers has not been done in a long time. It requires the carrier to send over a rig to the tanker and some other modifications to be able to pump to the carrier.”

CONSOL operations using commercial tankers have become particularly crucial since the closure of the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii.

Earlier this year, the M/T Stena Polaris, an ice-class tanker operated by Crowley Government Services and chartered to Military Sealift Command, completed a 145-day mission providing underway fueling to MSC vessels. During this mission, it spent 96 days delivering diesel and jet fuel to U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea region.

During this year’s RIMPAC 2024, the MSC-contracted commercial tankers Overseas Mykonos and Allied Pacific conducted 17 separate CONSOL operations, delivering over two million gallons of fuel to MSC’s fleet replenishment oiler USNS Pecos (T-AO 197), the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11), and the New Zealand Navy’s Polar-class sustainment vessel HMNZS Aotearoa (A11).

At-sea refueling operations are complex undertakings. Ships like Pecos and Washington Chambers must use their equipment to receive rather than deliver fuel, maintaining a precise distance of 160–200 feet between vessels. Though these operations take 7–8 hours to complete and present significant challenges, they allow MSC’s Combat Logistics Force ships to remain on station and continue their vital refueling missions. The commercial tankers must also be specially outfitted and trained for the operations.

“The key advantage of taking fuel from a tanker versus a terminal is mobility,” explained Capt. Keith Walzak, Pecos’s civil service master, in August. “Using a fuel terminal requires us to leave contested areas and travel to wherever the terminal is, which takes time. When we return to a terminal, we can receive stores, both for us and the ships we are servicing.”

The implementation of CONSOLs during RIMPAC 2024 required careful preparation. Allied Pacific began its preparations in April with equipment fitting for CONSOL operations, followed by comprehensive training both in-port and at-sea.

CONSOLs with commercial tankers may not be limited to U.S. Navy ships. In July 2024, the MSC-charted tanker Badlands Trader conducted training with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force oiler JS Hamana off Kyushu, performing simulated CONSOL replenishment. The training followed a similar exercise from October 2023.

Both the Overseas Mykonos and Stena Polaris also participate in the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Tanker Security Program, which establishes a fleet of 10 active, commercially-viable, and privately-owned U.S.-flag product tankers available to meet national defense and other Department of Defense requirements.

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