Back to ideas to fix the USMM/MSP

I’m going off topic here but my current bos’n is Vietnamese, excellent seaman, used to be a fisherman. Before that an African-American from Calif, also a good seaman. Before that from Honduras, before that from Cape Verde Island and Barbados. All with US MMC.

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Yes, trying to head off a lecture before it begins.

I don’t agree but will let others do the debating with you…I am off till this evening celebrating the holiday

I would imagine that these same 4 people are familiar with the exact requirements of the British military and as such you could not outsource these people’s skills to some other countries.
London is one of the worlds leading centres for international arbitration for shipping but because of the decline in its Merchant fleet this could change.
I am aware of many in the legal profession in London that started the their working life as a deck apprentice including several judges and their depth of knowledge on shipping is unmatched.
During the Vietnam war a company I was employed by delivered cargo to Saigon. The ships were manned by British officers and Indian crew. There was one incident where a rocket lodged in the electrician’s bathroom but failed to explode. They were there because of the money.

I think that is what I wrote:

“The military and national security thing is just jingoism in my opinion, it is a hook on which to hang a more reasonable (and therefore less appealing) means of protecting an important American industry and the people who support it.”

The military side of “national security” is a theme song, a jingle, jingoism for the redneck masses.

Not just awful … f’ing awful. Why give away 80 percent of our citizen’s labor? What do you have against Americans earning enough to live in America and buy American products from American companies? Giving away 80 percent of our cake means we eat dirt and act like we are grateful for having even that.

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of course it is just like the NRA doesn’t represent gun owners but gun makers. Our national addiction to our military is wholly a product of “being sold” that we must have this massive military with an overabundance of the most wiz bang gosh darned sophisticated weapons because if we don’t have too much of too fancy then we’re second rate. When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union went splat suddenly there was a feeling that all that money being spent to protect us from the Russian Bear could now start going to the people and our infrastructure but as soon as the Republicans took hold of the Congress they made damned sure the money pipeline to Northrup-Grumman and Lockheed-Martin stayed not just primed but the pumps continually running. Come the Dick Cheney presidency and the pumps went into full throttle 24/7 and more pumps where added to increase the rate of money flow. At the same time, every Republican rube fell for the national security war chant and kept time with the music calling for more and more military. All for fighing some tribesmen in the desert with no aircraft! How is it we end up in long bloody wars where the enemy has no airpower and we have it all? It is because of the power of the defense industry. The defense contractors are simply too powerful to kill and unless we can have them build something else that they can overcharge the taxpayer for like they can weapons then they will not be placated.

now with regards to the merchant marine in this. so we have this incredibly big military and god help us all if we ever face a war against a real enemy overseas but we have it and there is a chance of that war which would call for boots to do the fighting so what are we going to do if faced with that scenario and there is no good way to get the bodies to man the ROS ships the government has parked all over the place? Yes, the war might end up a stoopid one where we have no business being but we should at least have the means to go make fools of ourselves in some desert. Besides I want to see the jobs and the ships and if there is no other way to get them than to sell it as national defense then so be it. Just like KP should be funded from the DoD budget, let’s get some more MSP ships and let the Navy pay for them since sealift is a MSC responsibility and the DoD can certainly find the money to expand the MSP a whole lot easier than MarAd which is why I called for Secretary Mattis to put his money where his mouth is and fund a US merchant fleet if every single damned war plan he sees involves lots of US merchant ships!

but you nor anyone else has explained why the owner of a ship flagged in Panama would want to reflag his ship to some new US second registry unless offered a buttload of financial incentives to do so and what does the US get in return for all this huge giveaway? A few senior officers jobs…so what? we need top to bottom manning of commercial ships if we are to rebuild the manpower pool and that is best done with the MSP. Both programs would cost the Treasury so why not go with the program that gives the most bang for the buck?

and to what extent would shipowners be granted this “favorable tax environment” to incentivize them to come to this international trading register? what does the shipowner get in order to make him want to change from what he has now which obviously is working well enough for him? zero tax on any profits earned by a 2nd register vessel? all for a couple of masters and chiefs…pretty damned costly if you ask me. I suppose you can enact laws to make him feel pain if he stays with the FoCs his ships fly but that means undoing 70years of FoC ships having easy access to the US markets? gonna be a nasty fight in Congress there with all the free traders and agri lobby yelling about how much more this is gonna cost them. FoCs ships should have been taxed heavily to enter the US starting in the 1950s when there weren’t many of them but now virtually all ships calling in the US fly some FoC whether they are owned by Americans or foreigners. Also this 2nd register I imagine would only be offered to US corporations which own fleets of ships flying the flags of other nations. How do you differentiate these FoC ships from those owned by Asians or Europeans?

the fact of the matter is that Flags of Convenience destroyed national fleets the world over and a full 85% of global merchant vessels fly some form of a FoC. this is a genie which is pretty much impossible to put back into the bottle and any nation if it wants a national flag fleet has got to offer alot in the way of trade protection or subsidies to keep ships in their fleets. either that or water down their regulations so far down that it becomes a national fleet in name only which is what a 2nd register truly is.

The U.S. DoD is saying that their preferred policy is that the U.S. fleet be maintained at some minimum size. It’s probably safe to assume that the U.S. would prefer, in some cases at least, to use U.S. flag, perhaps for it’s most critical or most sensitive cargo.

Anecdotal evidence that the U.S has shipped military cargo on non-U.S. flag ship doesn’t disprove the logic behind that policy. Seems like it’s a probability type problem.

Not to get bogged down in details but for example if there were a total of 10 ship loads of cargo, 1 load of weapons and 9 loads of ammo perhaps the preference would be to use the U.S. flag ship for the weapons and the other 9 for ammo.

None of the 9 non- U.S. ships alone proves that the policy is incorrect nor does the statical data that 90% of the cargo went on non-U.S. ships.

No, the other 9 ships must be RRF ships broken out for the voyage. We own them, we pay for them, we need the jobs and the ships need to be used. None of those cargoes should ever load on a foreign bottom.

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It was meant as an analogy of sorts, not intended to be taken literally as a specific plan.

Didn’t want to get bogged down with discussion details of the analogy.

Trying to explain why a single non-U.S. ship with military cargo does not invalidate the entire concept.

and you still are failing to answer my question why any US citizen owner who has a ship currently flying an FoC would want to reflag his ship to this US 2nd registry? they are obviously needing to hire US masters and chiefs which will cost them more $$$ so why? they would need to be given a financial incentive which would need to be pretty big if anyone would be interested

So let’s try to what the US might gain if it offered a 2nd register for foreign trading ships.

  1. A larger fleet in terms of numbers and tonnage but the types of vessels enrolled likely would not be militarily useful for a surge sealift such as bulk carriers and crude oil tankers
  2. Depending how the regulations were written the US would get some work for officers (nice if it was all officers but there would be opposition from the industry do to added costs)
  3. Some revenues to the Treasury from fees collected (but to entice owners of FoC ships to switch would likely require more tax benefits to be offered making it net negative revenues)

IMO, to get any benefit not costing more than its value would be to tax FoC ship calls to a point where having a 2nd register ship w/ all US officers would be cheaper to vessel owner than the status quo but then foreign nations will implement tonnage taxes against these 2nd register vessels when they call.

Frankly, I see no way now offering such a 2nd register really does anything to alleviate the situation we are in today. I say implement laws giving full US flagged vessels a % of a total trade like crude oil exports or LNG.

I just realized that giving US flag vessels a % of certain trades is another option to rebuild the fleet which costs the Treasury nada, increases the fleet size (albeit not necessarily militarily useful vessels) and builds the seafarers labor pool. Of course business (big energy) would howl unless given something bigger in return so likely not revenue neutral.

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Let the bastards howl. If only we had a congress of something less than the kleptocrat scumbags we have now we probably wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

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don’t get me wrong because I agree but this is Washingtoon District of Clowns we are talking about here. Money talks loud in the halls of the Con-gress and we see how much traction Rep. Hunter is getting everytime he proposes even a small fraction of our energy exports go in US ships. You know as well as I do that the US Merchant Marine and US flagged shipping has few supporters and that we are pretty much loathed by big business. Our only real friend is the Navy and they are pretty much only fair weather friends never extending themselves on our behalf. If we had a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or CNO who was willing to stand before the Con-gress and demand more US ships you can bet people would sit up and listen, but all we have are the platitudes like what Mattis regurgitated at KP the other day. Give me one person high up in the Defense leadership to call for maritime reform and you know the ball would start rolling but they are all too busy buying $13B aircraft carriers that breakdown, $400M aluminum can ships that breakdown and $500M F35 Joint Strike Fighters that just one costs more than MarAd’s entire annual budget!

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I know it is probably a waste of time many would say but damn, I have been submitting letters to the white house email portal weekly, just writing one of three letter variations, starting with stroking the Pres’s feathers and segwaying into our maritime industry concerns and proposals. You know the saying, if you make the boss feel like it’s his idea and it meshes with his/her favorite pet policy they just may adopt it. As follows, several variations. there is a character limit so I have sent these letters in two parts. One part with a lead in topic and the second part with the 8 major bullet points. If I run out of time I just send the 8 bullet points. Maybe someone on his staff actually will think it interesting enough to pass it along.

Mr. President:
Respectfully I am submitting this as Part II, the 8 initiatives promised in my previous email. These are suggested “America First” Maritime Transportation Infrastructure Revitalization Policies” which I submit and beg your indulgence and precious time in reviewing: Dear President Trump;
First sir, I applaud your courageous decision to protect the steel, aluminum & shipping industries & I advocate that US maritime shipping deserves the same and offers the greatest potential for job creation of all transportation modalities both foreign trading & domestic. Ships account for well over 92% of all international trade and yet US shipping accounts for only 2% of the goods transported into this nation. U.S. Maritime industry represents >600,000 Americans &has potential to easily double in size with support from you . Your proposed opening of greater offshore lease areas is another maritime bonanza for US jobs if & only if foreign vessels/firms are forced to hire US professionals or their ships are US registered, currently not the case. The PL-480 World food/ Food for Peace programs which the Obama administration reduced the US carrier requirement to 50% from 75% in 2012 and was subsequently slated for total replacement with the Obama “US cash for dictators”
In June 2017, you nearly passed an EO which would have increased US flag deep sea overseas shipping fleet by 50+ ships by requiring the food for peace grain we send to starving nations be transported 100% on US ships. Unfortunately Sen Bob Corker, Lee John McCain and other misguided anti-American Congressmen from landlocked states and uninformed foreign controlled conglomerates talked you out of it, a tragedy, but one I pray you will correct Mr. President!.
Although PL480 was frustrated by interference & CBP’s reversal on revisiting US vessel requirements in the OCS were tragic and foreign non-tax paying vessels and crews operate in the US oil field nullify much of the job creation you are encouraging, we are hopeful you will revisit them and continue support for Cabotage and Jones Act laws. I will follow up this email with 8 bullet points of critical importance in making America great again!

Very RespectfullyYours;

Dear President Trump;
The US maritime sector and shipping industry offer the greatest potential for growth and job creation of all the transportation modalities in both foreign trading and inland sectors. Maritime modality accounts for well over 92% of all international trade and yet US shipping accounts for only 2% of the goods transported into this nation. The U.S. Maritime industry represents over 600,000 Americans and has the potential to easily double in size with support from President Trump! The President’s proposed opening of greater offshore lease areas is another maritime bonanza for US jobs if and only if the foreign vessels and firms are forced to hire US professionals or reflagged to US registry which is currently not the case. The PL-480 World food/ Food for Peace programs which the Obama administration reduced the US carrier requirement to 50% from 75% in 2012 and was subsequently slated for total replacement with the Obama “US cash for dictators”
In June 2017, President Trump nearly increased US flag deep sea overseas shipping fleet by 50+ ships by passing an EO requiring the food for peace grain we send to starving nations be transported 100% on US ships. Unfortunately Sen Bob Corker and other misguided anti-American Congressmen from largely landlocked states and uninformed foreign controlled conglomerates talked him out of it, a tragedy, but one the President can correct.
Despite this we applaud his efforts, though PL480 was frustrated by Senator Corker’s interference and CBP’s reversal on revisiting US vessel Jones Act requirements for offshore oil field vessels were tragic and foreign non-tax paying vessels and crews operate in the US oil field nullifying much of the employment opportunities in the President’s new offshore leases and existing leases, we are hopeful his support for Cabotage and Jones Act laws and policies (vigorously attacked by Senators McCain, Flake and Corker), will continue.
Enclosed are several articles and portions of articles which I hope and pray will arrive on the president’s desk in one form or another. The prescient points I want to present are as the 8 bullet points on the opening page under “Suggested Presidential “America First” Maritime Transportation Infrastructure Revitalization Policies”.
Very RespectfullyYours;
OR:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President Trump & Executive Presidential Staff;
I am writing this letter again on the topic of the declining US maritime industry which should be the keystone lynchpin and often neglected piece of the President’s infrastructure revitalization plan. The US maritime sector and shipping industry offer the greatest potential for growth and job creation of all the transportation modalities in both foreign trading and inland sectors. Maritime modality accounts for well over 92% of all international trade and yet US shipping accounts for only 2% of the goods transported into this nation. The U.S. Maritime industry represents over 600,000 Americans and has the potential to easily double in size with support from President Trump! The President’s proposed opening of greater offshore lease areas is another maritime bonanza for US jobs if and only if the foreign vessels and firms are forced to hire US professionals or reflagged to US registry which is currently not the case. The PL-480 World food/ Food for Peace programs which the Obama administration reduced the US carrier requirement to 50% from 75% in 2012 and was subsequently slated for total replacement with the Obama “US cash for dictators” proposal was one that has a huge potential for increasing the US fleet by at least 50 to 75 ships. There has not been a National Maritime Policy since the Reagan Administration!
The prescient points will follow on this and a subsequent email I want to present are as the 8 bullet points on the opening page under “Suggested Presidential “America First” Maritime Transportation Infrastructure Revitalization Policies” below.
Suggested Presidential “America First” Maritime Transportation Infrastructure Revitalization Policies.

  1. RESTORE THE ORIGINAL 100% REQUIREMENT TO SHIP PL-480 FOOD PROGRAM ON US VESSELS AS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP THROUGH AN EXECUTIVE ORDER. (This initiative was sidelined by Sen Corker, Sen. McCain, Sen Flake and other Senators.)

  2. CONTINUE TO PRESERVE THE JONES ACT- RESIST GRANTING WAIVERS.

  3. DEMAND THAT 50%+ OF ALL US LNG EXPORTS BE TRANSPORTED ON US LNG CARRIERS. (If passed, the US shipping industry would rapidly by/acquire the LNG shipping capacity and in-flag under US flag the required capacity to achieve this).

  4. CONSIDER EVEN A MODEST REQUIREMENT TO SHIP ALL US MANUFACTURED OR SELECTED MANUFACTURED GOODS ON US FLAG VESSEL CARRIERS. (Originally proposed by President Nixon and never signed in effect by President Ford in 1973).

  5. REVISIT CBP’s ORIGINAL ATTEMPT TO ENFORCE THE JONES ACT WITHN THE OCS (Outer Continental Shelf oil fields).

  6. EXPAND THE MSP (Maritime Security Program) ABOVE THE 60 SHIP LEVEL AND INCREASE OUR EMERGENCY MILITARY USEFUL MERCHANT SHIPPING CAPACITY.

  7. INCREASE THE TITLE XI LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM (Not a subsidy, simply a fiduciary guarantee on loans to stimulate US shipbuilding)

  8. EXPAND AND GUARANTEE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK LOAN GUARANTEES AND PROGRAM STIMULATING THE US SHIPPING INDUSTRY AND U.S. MANUFACTURERS.

I implore you Mr. President, unschackle our potential and let us show you what the Maritime Industry, critical and all but forgotten, can do for you and TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Very RespectfullyYours;

I doubt you will ever even receive a reply but if you do, it will be a canned form letter.