Maritime Administration

Lawmakers Question MARAD on Sealift Readiness

RRF vessel SS Cornhusker State off the coast of Haiti, February 2010. MARAD Photo

Lawmakers were skeptical the Navy could meet its sealift requirements as part of the National Defense Strategy and that the service was on track to recapitalize its aging sealift fleet.

Rep. John Garamendi, (D-Calif.), called the Navy’s attention to the problem over the years “woefully inadequate” at Wednesday’s joint hearing of the House Armed Services readiness and seapower and projection Forces subcommittees.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/12/lawmakers-question-marad-on-sealift-readiness

Group fights to keep Small Shipyard Grant Program funded

The Maritime Administration’s Small Shipyard Grant Program was first authorized in the fiscal 2006 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and codified in the fiscal NDAA budget. (Marad’s definition of a small shipyard is fewer than 1,200 employees.) The program has been a great help to many of the shipyards that build workboats.

To be eligible, shipyards must build new or repair commercial or government vessels at least 40′ in length. Quite a few of the grants involve the purchase of...

https://www.workboat.com/news/shipbuilding/group-fights-to-keep-small-shipyard-grant-program-funded/

DoD Investigation into Military Sealift Readiness

The following is the Department of Defense Inspector General January 2020 report, Audit of Surge Sealift Readiness Reporting.

From the report

The objective of this audit was to determine whether U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) provided adequate oversight of the reporting on surge sealift activation requirements. To assess the accuracy of this reporting, we reviewed surge sealift readiness reporting in the Defense Readiness Reporting System-Navy (DRRS-N) and the Defense Readiness...

https://news.usni.org/2020/01/28/dod-investigation-into-military-sealift-readiness

Marad presents Gallant Ship Citation Award to Green Lake crew

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator, Mark H. Buzby, presented the Maritime Administration’s (Marad) Gallant Ship Citation Award and U.S. Merchant Marine Medals for Outstanding Achievement to the crew of the U.S.-flag ship Green Lake.

The awards were given for the crew’s unprecedented rescue efforts in response to the horrific fire aboard the foreign-flag vessel Sincerity Ace in the northern Pacific Ocean on Dec. 31, 2018. Administrator Buzby presented the...

https://www.workboat.com/news/bluewater/marad-presents-gallant-ship-citation-award-to-green-lake-crew/

TRANSCOM Running Largest Ready Reserve Fleet Stress Test Since 2003

RRF vessel SS Cornhusker State off the coast of Haiti, February 2010. MARAD Photo

THE PENTAGON — U.S. Transportation Command started the largest turbo activation of the ready Reserve Fleet since 2003 to stress-test the military’s ability to quickly deploy the cargo ships required for a massive troop movement.

The no-notice exercise involves 28 vessels from the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD). The ships are located on the...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/17/transcom-running-largest-ready-reserve-fleet-stress-test-since-2003

OMSA provides list of hurricane relief vessels

The offshore service vessel Harvey Deep-Sea in Louisiana. LSU photo.

Early last week as Hurricane Dorian churned west, the Offshore Marine Service Association (OMSA) surveyed its members to see what vessels could do relief work — a move designed to let the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Maritime Administration (Marad) know in advance exactly what was available before any Jones Act waivers were considered.

“We didn’t know what would be needed,” OMSA president Aaron Smith said Wednesday. So they asked operators about everything from berthing and...

https://www.workboat.com/news/offshore/omsa-provides-list-of-hurricane-relief-vessels/

Buzby: Declining Ship Numbers, Opportunities Causing Merchant Marine Talent Loss

World War II Merchant Marine recruiting poster.

The Maritime Administration’s top official warns of “a bleed-off of talent” in the merchant fleet because there are fewer ships for each year’s maritime academy graduates to serve on and even fewer chances of a long career.

The American merchant marine is at least 1,800 officers short of what’s needed to meet sustained wartime needs of more than four-to-six weeks of operations in a contested environment, said retired Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, speaking...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/22/buzby-declining-ship-numbers-opportunities-causing-merchant-marine-talent-loss

Marad seeks comments on Domestic Maritime Centers of Excellence

India Tango Marine Firefighting Training Program trainees. Bruce Buls photo.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (Marad) announced progress in establishing Centers of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education (CoE), which would recognize and support community colleges and training institutions that prepare Americans for careers in the maritime industry. Marad is seeking public comment on the proposed policy.

“These educational institutions benefit America’s national security and economy by growing and...

https://www.workboat.com/news/government/marad-seeks-comments-on-domestic-maritime-centers-of-excellence/

Marad promotes short sea shipping at hearing

At the Port Allen, La., terminal, containers are loaded onto barges and taken to New Orleans where they are put on ships for export. Seacor AMH photo

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing Wednesday on short sea shipping.

At the hearing, Mark H. Buzby, Maritime Administrator, discussed the Maritime Administration’s (Marad) efforts to foster, promote and develop short sea shipping in the U.S. through the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).

The Marine Highway System, which consists of the U.S. navigable waterways including rivers, bays, channels,...

https://www.workboat.com/news/coastal-inland-waterways/marad-continues-to-promote-short-sea-shipping/

Tote named manager for building new maritime training ships

The National Security Multi-Mission Vessel will replace aging ships at state maritime academies. SUNY Maritime rendering

Tote Services Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has been selected by the U.S. Maritime Administration to serve as vessel construction manager for the new class of maritime training ships.

“The U.S. shipbuilding industry is vital to America’s economic strength and security,” said Marad Administrator Mark Buzby in announcing the decision Tuesday. “The selection of Tote Services to work with a U.S. shipyard to deliver this class of vessels is an investment in our nation’s vital maritime infrastructure and...

https://www.workboat.com/news/shipbuilding/tote-named-manager-for-building-new-maritime-training-ships/

+ More