PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 20, 2022) An AS332 Super Puma transports cargo from the Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Matthew Perry (T-AKE 9) onto the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during a replenishment-at-sea. U.S. Navy Photo
Buying nine used cargo ships is a first step toward the much needed modernization of Military Sealift Command’s fleet, but the sealift enterprise requires the revitalization of American shipbuilding and yard maintenance to experience...
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday to promote record-setting cargo volumes while vowing to address potential anticompetitive behavior in the container markets.
“There’s no question that when you have a scarcity of access to shipping, you’re going to see upward pressure on prices, and that’s going to be part of our challenge when it comes to inflation,” Buttigieg told a gathering of port officials and lawmakers at the Port of...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/buttigieg-vows-to-fight-container-rate-inflation
Twenty-five port projects in 19 states got an early Christmas present last week in the form of grant money through the Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program.
The federal government awarded more than $241 million in grant funding to both inland river and coastal ports and the Great Lakes ports, according to a Thursday release. Among the priorities of this year’s funding round were those related to job creation, climate change and environmental justice impacts.
The...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ports-benefit-from-more-than-241-million-in-federal-grants
Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have introduced legislation aimed at compensating vessel owners that want to divert ships from the U.S. West Coast to less-congested Gulf and East Coast ports.
The Supply Chain Emergency Response Act, introduced this week by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., redirects $125 million of unspent money from the CARES Act to help owners of vessels currently anchored off the U.S. West Coast to transit through the Panama Canal and dock at...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-senator-proposes-125m-in-grants-to-reroute-container-ships
President Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) has some in the maritime industry wondering if she is the right person for the job given the crisis affecting American ports.
Ann Phillips, who currently serves as special assistant to the governor of Virginia for coastal adaptation and protection, “is a leader in the field of coastal resilience and climate impact on national security at the regional, national and international level,” according to the White House.
“In...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/biden-nominates-climate-expert-to-lead-maritime-administration
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) website, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) “promotes development and maintenance of an adequate, well-balanced, United States merchant marine, sufficient to carry the nation’s domestic waterborne commerce and a substantial portion of its waterborne foreign commerce, and capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency.”
In addition, MARAD is charged with ensuring that the U.S. has “adequate...
Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corporation has been awarded a multi-year, $638 million contract for vessel […] The post Crowley scores $638M contract to acquire ships for MARAD appeared first…
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/crowley-scores-638m-contract-to-acquire-ships-for-marad/
Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Solutions business unit has been awarded a multi-year, $638 million contract for Vessel Acquisition Management (VAM) by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD).
Crowley says its strategic acquisition and vessel management service will assist MARAD in the enhancement of the Ready Reserve Force (RRF), helping reduce the overall age of the fleet and increase ship reliability. The fleet executes U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) sealifts.
To carry out the contract,...
https://www.marinelog.com/news/crowley-awarded-638-million-marad-contract/
An undated photo of a Watson-class LMSR. MSC Photo
House lawmakers are calling on U.S. Transportation Command and the U.S. Maritime Administration to create a sealift strategy amid decades of concerns over the capacity of the sealift fleet.
During a joint hearing between the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee and readiness subcommittee on Tuesday, lawmakers criticized and expressed concern over the lack of a cohesive strategy to build up the sealift fleet.
A group representing U.S. domestic maritime interests has warned the Biden administration that the Jones Act waivers issued by the government to address fuel shortages could be used by shippers to make money off the crisis.
In a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday, the American Maritime Partnership (AMP) urged the administration to reject any waiver of the Jones Act — a law that requires all cargoes moving domestically to be loaded into American vessels — unless U.S.-flag ships are...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/us-maritime-group-fears-waiver-abuse-by-fuel-shippers