WOW.
What a dedicated FIGHTER . My hat off .
Cheers
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Not a single thing will come of it…there is simply no political will in Congressional leadership (R or D) to bring about any meaningful change nor to appropriate one dollar for the purpose. Just ask John Garamendi or Mark Kelly.
Just more posturing and self puffery going on here.
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At least somebody is trying. Personally, I think the point will only be driven home when there is a line of damaged USN ships limping back from the western Pacific and whatever MSC ships they can man are smoking hulks.
Dark, I know, but DC and the American public will care when it is too late.
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Reminds me of when the US was launching the rescue attempt of the Iranian hostages. The captain of the carrier Kitty Hawk assured the crew they could defend the ship against any Iranian counter attack except for one very effective missile the Iranians possessed. He added, we know how good it is because we sold it to them.
The US already has the most expensive navy in the world but I’m sure they could spend a few more hundred billion dollars to build more submarine and missile targets.
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I have no idea about US maritime politics and environment and may be You are right but I see in Dr.Sal a great enthusiast and while following his utube channel and other sources where He is quite vocal, one can see a growing interest in maritime affairs among the public. From abt 200 views and few subscribers 6-7 years ago to sometimes up to 3.3 mln views and 560 K subscribers and finally participation in Senate hearing it is evident his voice i heard .
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I will say it again…talk is cheap so propose anything you wish but until the leadership in both the Senate and the House are willing to not just back change but to actually fund it then NOTHING will happen. There is no way in hell will there be some great resurgence in US flag deepsea trade and shipbuilding without Federal government support in the way of subsidies or some other financial incentive to shipowners. Obviously some low hanging fruit would be reserving 50% of US energy exports for US flagged ships but now for more than a decade that has gone NOWHERE!
I am also going to make my position clear that Sal Mercagliano is no heavyweight to speak. He may have a doctorate but his position is at a very middling college nobody has ever heard of. If he were at the Naval War College or Postgraduate School then I’d say he deserves his accolades.
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Agree. This is the only thing that matters in the entire subject: will you get 60 senators to vote to tax the American people more to subsidize the American merchant marine? Any other conversation, proclamation, or exhortation on the issue is useless.
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Because I enjoy popping Sal Mercagliano’s balloon as I do…what’s with this calling him Dr Sal like everybody does? To me that’s the equivalent as Dr Phil or Dr Oz. So he got himself a doctorate which is commendable but it doesn’t make him anything particularly special and worthy of our blowing trumpets for him.
It’s also about the same as calling oneself Captain just because you’ve got a Masters license but actually never sailed in that position (not naming any names here but just saying)
Same as calling anyone Captain. So you were a Captain? Nothing special or worthy of blowing our trumpets for. People earn their titles.
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Well, I should be prepared for an onslaught of Dr. Sal sycophants here. I you want him to be your great guru and all knowing speaker of truths then who am I to say you can’t?
The best chance for Sal to get more ships built is to contribute a few million dollars to the ballroom fund and hire some million dollar lobbyists to pay some congressmen bags of cash or bit coin.
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I think Sal over exaggerates all of his articles to get clicks just like Konrad does. It’s their business. Doesn’t mean he’s not a doctor or didn’t earn the title.
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It isn’t that he doesn’t have his PhD…it has more to do how he pitches himself and thus how he gets others to refer to him (especially calling him Dr. Sal as opposed to Dr. Mercogliano). Clever marketing IMO to become the go-to guy for matters maritime.
If it comes to be into a true maritime heavyweight, just having the title is not enough. I would certainly give him more credibility if he had a much greater level of industry experience.
I use Dr.Sal as it is time saving as I do not have to do spell checking of Mercogliano. Somehow I can not memorise his last name and come with Mercadoliano, Mercatorliano, Mercurliano , Merchantliano and/or similar . Simple Dr.Sal is a hell of a lot easier and convenient as long as He does not object.
Cheers.
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It’s more than just the title but it is now he is now perceived by people here and elsewhere. For a man with limited industry experience and much more academic he is now considered by many as the best voice to listen to. I truly wish he was a man who had 40 years of a combination of sailing and executive experience in the industry to be able to hear speak. I can’t personally think of any name throw out but there are certainly people out there who could
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QUOTE:
I believe that worrying about the problems plaguing our planet without taking steps to confront them is absolutely irrelevant.
The only thing that changes this world is taking action. And I believe that if enough ordinary people back up our desire for a better world with action, I believe we can, in fact, accomplish absolutely extraordinary things.
Jody Williams
END QUOTE
What did She know about land personal mines? …………NOTHING and yet…..
Out of 20 K memebers of this community one can find thousands who have got longer experience at sea or in the industry then Dr.Sal. And yet out of this multitudes only one member is invited as speaker in front of audiences containing some very serious maritime dudes and decision makers. Audiences in USA as well as in some foreign maritime countries .
And they listen.
So my guess is, He must have some hidden magic that attracts such audiencies. I can name one element of this magic and it is “passion” .
Some may see sth else.
And it seems to me He is well respected among his academic peers. Hence I wouod be very cautious while passing too harsh judgements and advocate wait and see or rather hear approach.
https://www.npr.org/2006/01/09/5132997/when-ordinary-people-achieve-extraordinary-things
Cheers
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