On October 16, 2007 the United States Department of Defense announced that it awarded contract N00033-08-C-5500 to Sealift Incorporated. This was a $10,614,000 firm-fixed-price contract plus reimbursables for the "Virginian". The ship was contracted to carry containers laden with ammunition to support the global war on terrorism and the United States Central Command. The contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $39,814,000. If options are exercised, work may continue through October 2011. This contract was competitively procured via Federal Business Opportunities and the Military Sealift Command websites, with more than 200 proposals solicited and three offers received. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command is the contracting authority.