National Harbor – USA Maritime Committee Chairs Brian Schoeneman, Political and Legislative Director, Seafarers International Union, and Sara Fuentes, Vice President, Government Affairs, Transportation Institute, participated on a Maritime Security Program (MSP) panel at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space convention on Monday, August 2nd.
The USA Maritime Coalition panelists were joined by Tony Fisher, MARAD’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Sealift, and the panel was moderated by former Maritime Administrator retired Rear Admiral Mark Buzby. Attendees at the conference included many members of the Navy, Coast Guard, and Maritime Administration, including Deputy Administrator Lucinda Lessley.
All panelists expressed strong support for the Maritime Security Program, with Rear Adm. Buzby (ret.) beginning the discussion by asking, “The program has done what it has intended to do for the past 25 years, to keep needed tonnage under the US flag, but is the status quo good enough to meet our evolving sealift requirements or the operating realities of today’s global maritime industry?”
USA Maritime Members made strong arguments in support of the program, with all panelists observing it would cost over $65 billion to replicate MSP’s capacity to provide ships, crew, and access to multi-modal global transportation networks. Ms. Fuentes argued that the international-trading U.S.-flag fleet is facing threats from flags of convenience, which avoid U.S. taxes and regulatory compliance, and the Chinese government, which is investing billions in its own maritime industry. She urged cargo preference expansion and shipper tax relief to help grow the U.S.-flag fleet.
Mr. Schoeneman reminded the audience what is at stake in this program, observing, “While we spend a lot of time talking about ships and stipends, the one thing that Congress, the Administration and the rest of the industry need to remember is that, fundamentally, the Maritime Security Program is about people. It’s about the crew, the men and women of the United States Merchant Marine, who, in peace and war, are there to ensure that our nation remains ready and capable of supporting American economic and national security. This program ensures a jobs base in peacetime so those men and women are ready in war time. We must never forget the human factor in MSP.”