The USS JFK may arrive at the Port of Brownsville in mid-December

Oct. 31—Only have a minute? Listen instead

There's a good chance the former USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) aircraft carrier will arrive at the Port of Brownsville around Dec. 15 for dismantling.

International Shipbreaking Ltd./EMR Brownsville two years ago won the Navy contract to scrap the JFK, the last conventionally powered supercarrier in the Navy fleet, commissioned in 1968 and decommissioned in 2007. ISL was also awarded the contract to dismantle the former USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), which arrived at the port May 31, 2022, to great fanfare and is in the process of being scrapped — roughly a two-year process. The JFK is a variant of the Kitty Hawk-class carriers.

ISL Vice President Robert Berry put the chances of the JFK arriving at Brownsville in mid-December at 70-80%, though per the Navy's wishes he declined to specify the target date for the vessel's departure under tow from its berth at the Philadelphia Naval Yard.

Berry did say it's a relatively short voyage, especially compared to the ships ISL has retrieved from the Navy's base in Bremerton, Washington, a months-long undertaking. Still, complications can always arise, he said.

"It may not actually happen," Berry said. "We have some stuff going on that the Navy has to do that may delay us a bit, but not much. I think we've got a pretty good shot at making (mid-December)."

Weather can be an issue, which is why the pending departure date is set after the official close of Atlantic Hurricane Season, a fact that "pleases our insurance company," he said.

A crew from ISL is already in Philadelphia working with Navy personnel to ready the JFK for departure, Berry noted.

"We have people up there right now," he said. "They're working with the Navy on some stuff that has to be done to the ship. This ship is still classified, so I have to be careful what I say."

Berry said the JFK is a historically important ship that the Navy originally intended to be nuclear-powered. The nuclear power plant wasn't ready and the Navy needed the carrier, so it was given a conventional power plant, he said. Like the Kitty Hawk and other historic carriers that have made their final port of call at Brownsville, hundreds of veterans and others are expected to be on-hand for the JFK's arrival and ISL will put on a proper ceremony recognizing those veterans and the ship they served on, Berry said.

In addition to receiving the last conventionally powered carrier, Brownsville is in the running to dismantle the first nuclear-powered carrier, the former USS Enterprise (CVN-65), commissioned in 1961, deactivated in 2012 and decommissioned in 2017. The Navy announced June 30 that Brownsville is one of three locations evaluated in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) where the Enterprise may be dismantled. The other contenders are Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Mobile, Alabama.