Are you now talking wages or total crew costs? In wages there are not much difference between US and European Officers. The additional cost would be mostly if crewed with US or European unlicensed crew.
A vessel crewed by European or US Officers and say a Pinoy crew would be somewhat cheaper, but not a material difference. Filipino or Indian Officers may be slightly lower paid in some cases, but many companies today does not differentiate the pay by nationality, only by ability. (Hard to believe, I know)
No the routes in question does not require US flag, US built vessels, or US mariners, therefore there are very few. There are no US flag vessel in the 10-20K TEU class of Container vessels to my knowledge)
Shipping is an international business any any attempt by this or any other US Administration to change that will meet with defeat. (Just like the trade war, if continued)
If you want your piece of the cake you have to change your ways. A second register MAY be a way to do it.
So…you’re saying higher cost is the reason…I agree.
As far as having no say in the matter, you’re wrong. When you’re the largest economy in the world and are separated by oceans on both sides, you absolutely have say in what goes on. But it requires willpower by those in charge to make it happen.
Just like there’s a bill in congress right now to require a certain percentage of energy exports to ship on US hulls with US crews, a similar bill could be passed to require a certain percentage of boxboats calling in the US to be US flagged and crewed. That way, no shipping company is disadvantaged (Maersk, CMA-CGM, MSC, COSCO, etc. all have to comply) so why would they care? The higher cost is borne by the consumer. And as we already discussed, the additional cost to the consumer is minuscule.
Ok so Admiral Buzby called me this morning. It was a fairly short conversation (he was at the USCG change of command ceremony) but he wants to talk again next week.
so ask him how high up the food chain he is allowed to telephone? any higher than the SecTrans? Can he call the Whitehouse Chief of Staff? Is he even allowed near the Whitehouse?
I ask because it is very unlikely that Donald Drumpf even knows there is a Maritime Administration and even less likely to know what the merchant marine is or does? I say the importance of any agency of government to any administration is now much access that agency gets to the center of power. has Buzby ever sat down with John Kelly or, God forbid, the Prezident to talk maritime policy? Is Buzby allowed to make maritime policy pronouncements without every single word being approved by the Whitehouse? Does Buzby have any authority or is he just another placeholder in charge of an agency with no meaningful purpose? We all remember the hideous reality of the importance of MarAd to the Obama administration when a Chuck E. Cheese lookalike was appointed to the job as a favor to Ray “da Hood” LaHood?
You’re forgetting the fact that two former shipowners, Ross and Chao, both have direct access to the Chief of Staff. And Chao is his direct boss so… there is no shortage of Maritime guys in the highest position. The question is what are they doing with all that access?
Specifically I asked him if someone high up is readjng the submissions or if they are being filed somewhere for posterity. He assured me they are being read at the highest level and are being taken seriously.
Yes Chao was a Director of Marine Transport Lines (MTL) in the 90’s
Most of his history is foreign (his last major investment was Diamond S which runs mostly under the chinese flag) but I think Ross had some US flag ships before that. I don’t remember specifics but the one and only time I met him was at the Jones Act shipowner conference in NYC two years ago.
Chao’s ships as Director of MTL where 100% US Flag. I don’t know much about her family’s company The Foremost Group but her Dad started it as a Mariner and an immigrant… and her track record on supporting the Jones Act in Washigton goes decades back.
since this is a question that you are not likely to want to ask Admiral Buzby, I will ask it here just in case he is reading this tonight…
which would you choose of these two options if your greatest priority for the Nation is the strongest position for being able to successfully man a massive surge sealift like in circa 1990?
the status quo
or
close KP and direct that funding to increasing by 50% the number of enrolled ships in the MSP?
a very simple question but one which I very much doubt you will choose to answer…
