Much of the year the vessels are laid up, and as US government owned ships they can be activated and deployed to provide housing for disaster relief workers.

[8] In February 2018 the design stage was in Phase 3 of development and in sufficient detail to present to shipyards for construction bidding.

[8] In March 2018 the US federal budget included funding for the NSMV project and the first ship was expected to enter service in 2022.

[9] A construction contract was to have been awarded to a shipyard in the second quarter of 2019[10] but proposed 2019 federal budget reductions cut the allocated amount per ship from $300M to only $205M.

[12] In April 2020, TOTE Services signed a contract with Philly Shipyard (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) for the construction of the first two vessels to be delivered in the Spring and Winter 2023 for a cost of US$630M.