Thought this may be better as a separate thread.
What specific and verifiable goals or actions are we hoping the new Administration accomplishes?
Now that the election is over, the talking time is over and the action time should start. So as Marine Professionals what are we looking for the new administration to actually do?
It may be interesting to have a thread of our ideas at the start and a place to look back on to see what was and wasn’t done over the next few years.
great list - thanks
Good lord. This is the USMM wet dream.
reduce tariffs.
Let’s watch for the complete opposite.
Finish the lock at the Soo!
I will throw a few in:
@dry_fly can you expand on that for those of us not familiar with the current status of the Soo?
Only foreign going ships or any vessel that spends any time in international waters (>12nm offshore)?
This would cause a lot of headaches for companies trying to do payroll.
And totally against what USA has stood for the last 75 years; Free completion, free trade and freedom of the high seas.
There are also international rules and regulation governing shipping that USA has been among the instigator for and signatory to.
USA has trade deals, both with trade blocks and a number of others countries, that set rules for how goods are shipped between nations.
Can you expand on that?
Anyone with some ideas that are actually MARAD/ DOT items?
I was especially referring to the above.
Unless you sell your LNG on CIP terms it would be hard to get the buyers to accept the extra cost of shipping on US-flag ships.
On FOB terms it is up to the consignee to chose how to ship the goods.
- Tax free wages for mariners working in international and foreign waters- no minimum days required.
Why should mariners not paying taxes on their wages, other than so they can make more money?
When I think of the DOT in regards to maritime issues I think of 5 things:
If the new administration & DOT secretary can nominate a MARAD director within 1 yr & get them on the job within 18 months then they already did better than their predecessors.
Activate the Ready Reserve Fleet in 1st 2 yrs to get a base line of where we need to focus. Then modernize the fleet with DoD funds since it seems they have an unlimited amount money.
Increase the MSC support of the us navy fleets & carrier groups.
Better working conditions for MSC to help it NOT be the weakest link in our otherwise modern navy.
Go on a public relationship campaign for the US Merchant Mariners, civmar & private to help increase recruiting & awareness.
I know the USCG icebreaker program is under the Department of Homeland Security but not the shipyards. So DOT/MARAD should do something, or a bunch of somethings to help those idiots build some icebreakers before all the ice melts.
Find a way to improve the numbers of academy grads going to sea. Find a percentage & aim for it. 65%, 75% or any reasonable goal.
Instead of sending so much free money overseas, work on diverting some of it back to US Shipyards. If we’re going to give away tens or hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe give it away in the form of US built ships. We’d be in compliance of IMF by not subsidizing, we’d be paying our shipyards money to give away a product instead of giving away money. Don’t give the poor fish, give fishing boats built by Americans in American shipyards.
And finally, name John Konrad as MARAD Director.
MARAD About us.
https://www.maritime.dot.gov/about-us
Either close Kings Point entirely or turn it into a national training center for existing mariners, the majority of whom are being bled dry by the obscene cost of maintaining certification.
If the 10 minutes I just spent trying to make this look right didn’t work I’ll be buying a new phone today when this one flies off my sixth floor balcony.
I’m NOT picking on the poster I am replying to, most of these are probably worth doing or trying to some extent. I do think, however, that the list really shows how far the whole idea of a merchant marine has drifted from what it’s supposed to be.
The Navy is supposed to support the Merchant Marine and we’ve let it get all twisted up and backwards.
As far as I can tell the “merchant” part of the merchant marine is doing fine. New tugs and barges are being built to move paying cargo up and down the coasts and rivers. The foreign going (MSP) container ships are profitable. Even without the stipends they’d be profitable, just less so. Just look at the article on the main page about CMA-CGM… the US APL ships are part of that. Maersk and Hapag probably similar.
The fleet auxiliary/sealift stuff is a different story but I maintain that that’s a DoD problem and solution, not a DoT problem nor solution.
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Activate the Ready Reserve Fleet in 1st 2 yrsto get a base line of where we need to focus. Then modernize the fleet with DoD funds since it seems they have an unlimited amount money.
emphasized text**I’m not sure that another new baseline is needed, but ok, that gets established in 2025 or 26. In the remaining two or three years how do you suggest an administrator in one department launch a major acquisition program using funds belonging to another department?
Increase the MSC support of the us navy fleets
emphasized text**Why would the Secretary of Transportation spend their budget on something the Secretary of Defense is responsible for? How would an Administrator in another Department even do this?
Better working conditions for MSC to help it NOT be the weakest link in our otherwise modern navy.
emphasized text**Starting to sense a pattern? This isn’t the job of the Department of Transportation
Go on a public relationship campaign for the US Merchant Mariners, civmar & private to help increase recruiting & awareness.
Civilian Mariners working for DoD isn’t a DoT problem. Everybody that wants the government trying to plus up the number of mariners and increasing downward pressure on wages please raise your hand!
I know the USCG icebreaker program is under the Department of Homeland Security but not the shipyards. So DOT/MARAD should do something, or a bunch of somethings to help those idiots build some icebreakers before all the ice melts
Find a way to improve the numbers of academy grads going to sea. Find a percentage & aim for it. 65%, 75% or any reasonable goal.
emphasized text
Bring the data. Given the proliferation of non license programs at non-federal colleges I don’t know a target number, but 75% sounds high. How many sail for how long? And how far out counts as going to sea? I’ve got classmates that have done 30 years on tugs. Does that count?
Under the previous administration, the long-authorized (but never funded) second large lock at Sault Ste Marie was begun. Bi-partisan effort, really…Sen Gary Peters-D and other Great Lakes legislators spoke with the President and he got the construction started. Big project, and it’s completion in the next few years ('26 I think?) will provide a backup to the Pie Lock that is the only lock which can accommodate the 13 " 'footers" (1000ft self unloaders) and many of the lengthened and 3rd gen Lakers.
Lots of studies about the economic importance of the Soo for both the US and Canadian economies have raised the flag on a single point failure of the Poe (built in '68) would ever have to close for extended repair.
They’re buying/reflagging like 18 ships before 2030 or sometbing like that.
Isn’t this a DOD problem? If MSC can’t hardly support itself how are they going to support Big Navy?
This is a market problem. Not enough money, not enough connectivity, not enough time at home. Retention is the real problem. I can count on one hand how many classmates are still sailing and I graduated less than 10 years ago.
We can’t even build ships for ourselves, why would we give them away?
This is a terrible idea. I’d encourage you to read John’s Twitter or watch his recent “interview” on Charlie Kirk’s podcast. The guy is all over the place and doing everything he can to suck up to the MAGA king makers praying he gets a job in the administration.