The Secretary of the Navy shall appraise each vessel stricken from the Naval Vessel Register under section 8674 of this title.

If the Secretary considers that the sale of the vessel is in the national interest, the Secretary may sell the vessel. Any such sale shall be in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary for the purposes of this section.

In such a case, the Secretary may—

(1) A vessel stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and not subject to disposal under any other law may be sold under this section.

In such a case, the Secretary may—

(A) sell the vessel to the highest acceptable bidder, regardless of the appraised value of the vessel, after publicly advertising the sale of the vessel for a period of not less than 30 days; or

(B) subject to paragraph (3), sell the vessel by competitive negotiation to the acceptable offeror who submits the offer that is most advantageous to the United States (taking into account price and such other factors as the Secretary determines appropriate).

(3) Before entering into negotiations to sell a vessel under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall publish notice of the intention to do so in the Commerce Business Daily sufficiently in advance of initiating the negotiations that all interested parties are given a reasonable opportunity to prepare and submit proposals. The Secretary shall afford an opportunity to participate in the negotiations to all acceptable offerors submitting proposals that the Secretary considers as having the potential to be the most advantageous to the United States (taking into account price and such other factors as the Secretary determines appropriate).

This section does not apply to a vessel the disposal of which is authorized by subtitle I of title 40 and division C (except sections 3302, 3501(b), 3509, 3906, 4710, and 4711) of subtitle I of title 41, if it is to be disposed of under those provisions.

(Added Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title VIII, § 824(b), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1708, § 7305; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1021, Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1875; Pub. L. 107–217, § 3(b)(28), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1297; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title X, § 1045(a)(7), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1612; Pub. L. 111–350, § 5(b)(53), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3847; renumbered § 8675 and amended Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §§ 807(d)(2), 809(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1836, 1840.)