I’m in London at a high level shipping conference. MARAD Administrator is currently on the stage alongside the head of the U.K. Flag and the IMO secretory general.
Question and answer period just opened and Chip was asked a string of very pointed questions about Eliminating the Jones Act. His answer was strong and pointed. He said “let me be perfectly clear I fully support the jones act!” There were further vollies pointed at him (one delegate called the jones act a “blatant piece of protectionism!”) but Chip didn’t waiver.
Then he said “We have to fully support the US merchant marine and indigenous shipbuilders and the Jones act that protects them!”
the he comments died (chip was clear that he wouldn’t budge) then someone asked “will MARAD loosen the Jones act just a little”
chip hip looked him strait in the eye and said “Let me give you my final answer on the subject: NO!”
[QUOTE=john;168468]I’m in London at a high level shipping conference. MARAD Administrator is currently on the stage alongside the head of the U.K. Flag and the IMO secretory general.
Question and answer period just opened and Chip was asked a string of very pointed questions about Eliminating the Jones Act. His answer was strong and pointed. He said “let me be perfectly clear I fully support the jones act!” There were further vollies pointed at him (one delegate called the jones act a “blatant piece of protectionism!”) but Chip didn’t waiver.
Then he said “We have to fully support the US merchant marine and indigenous shipbuilders and the Jones act that protects them!”
the comments died (Chip was clear that he wouldn’t budge) then someone asked “will MARAD loosen the Jones act just a little”
(he) looked him strait in the eye and said “Let me give you my final answer on the subject: NO!”[/QUOTE]
well, THANK GOD for that, but the Jones Act is only one leg of an important table on which US Maritime Policy rests and without the remaining legs, that table cannot stand! MarAd should be working tirelessly to foster US flag, US built merchant vessels serving the Nation’s waterborne trade. This should be Mr. Jaenichen’s job first and foremost. That is the mandate he assumed when he became the Maritime Administrator.
I think it needs to me mentioned that the Jones Act (Merchant Marine Act of 1920 is statute and as such MarAd is not permitted to make any changes to the Act but rather that power rests with the US Congress so Jaenichen is not allowed to even relax the Act but also he is supposed to follow the other Maritime Acts passed by the Congress in years past such as the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 which starts with this simple policy declaration:
§ 1101. Fostering development and maintenance of merchant marine
It is necessary for the national defense and development of its foreign and domestic commerce that the United States shall have a merchant marine
(a) sufficient to carry its domestic water-borne commerce and a substantial portion of the water-borne export and import foreign commerce of the United States and to provide shipping service essential for maintaining the flow of such domestic and foreign waterborne commerce at all times,
(b) capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency,
(c) owned and operated under the United States flag by citizens of the United States, insofar as may be practicable,
(d) composed of the best-equipped, safest, and most suitable types of vessels, constructed in the United States and manned with a trained and efficient citizen personnel, and
(e) supplemented by efficient facilities for shipbuilding and ship repair. It is declared to be the policy of the United States to foster the development and encourage the maintenance of such a merchant marine.
This Act, while modified, has never been repealed nor has any follow on Act such as in 1970 changed this simple policy…it is still 80 years later, the LAW OF THE LAND!
In the early years of gCaptain the US Flagged slipped from the Paris MOU white list to the grey list (thankfully we are back in the white list). Some other maritime news outlets blamed the US Mariners and called for the end of the Jone Act. I called up MARAD and asked if the refuted the claim. They answered “no comment”, I asked why the flag slipped, again “no comment”, I asked if MARAD supports the US flag, they said “no comment” then I asked if I could interview the Administrator, they replied “no”.
Then I called up the Coast Guard’s top media rep and within an hour the Commandant, Admiral Allen, returned my call and was very frank and helpful but also made it clear that it is not the USCG’s job to advocate for the US flag, that was MARAD’s job. I told him, if that’s a case then the USCG needs to invite MARAD to the IMO to defend the flag. He said “they would need my permission to attend the IMO and I am not going to invite them”.
So basically, we have not had an official advocate.
I just pulled Chip aside and told him this story and he can’t speak to the past but did say “what makes him different is that he has no political ambitions beyond MARAD, and is fully committed to defending the flag both within the United States and overseas.”
Then he said “If you think my support was strong here then please come to the Jones Act conference in New York next week where Inplan on making MARAD’s position crystal clear.”
All sounds good and well and patriotic but the first time a politician tells me they have no further political ambitions, that’s the first time I know they have further political ambitions. He may not hold elected office but a politician is certainly what he is. Higher ambitions are not a bad thing in my book but if that part of what he said is BS then I’m left to question what else he said that might be nothing more than shadows and dust.
Also, why in the holy hell does the USCG say they support the US flag, even though it’s not their job to promote it, but won’t let MARAD in on the party at IMO? Talk about an inter-departmental charlie foxtrot! Where the foxtrot uniform charlie kilo do we find these people?
[QUOTE=john;168474]I pulled him aside after the session.
In the early years of gCaptain the US Flagged slipped from the Paris MOU white list to the grey list (thankfully we are back in the white list). Some other maritime news outlets blamed the US Mariners and called for the end of the Jone Act. I called up MARAD and asked if the refuted the claim. They answered “no comment”, I asked why the flag slipped, again “no comment”, I asked if MARAD supports the US flag, they said “no comment” then I asked if I could interview the Administrator, they replied “no”.
[/QUOTE]
That grey flag thing was the result of one companies’ ships.
A lot of people assumed, or it was convenient for them to assume that the U.S. flag change to MOU “Grey flag” reflected the conditon of the U.S. flag foreign-going fleet as a whole. But the U.S. fleet that sails foreign is a very small number of ships so if only one companies’ ships are sub-standard that is a high percentage of the total U.S. fleet.
Of 174 U.S. flag vessels inspected by port state control regimes, seven were detained. Of the seven detained, only one was a legitimate deep sea commercial vessel manned with a union crew. And this one vessel, the APL Agate, was detained because the engine room was not clean and a security certificate had not been properly filed. To be fair, this vessel had only recently transferred over to the U.S. flag from foreign operation. The crew was still trying to bring the vessel up to U.S. standards and into compliance. Here are the other six vessels:
MARIA BRUSCO – a tug detained in Canada for the certificates of master and officers “not as required.” Given the U.S. Coast Guard approach to standards for tugs, this detention comes as no surprise.
BRENDAN J. BOUCHARD – another tug detained in Canada for certificates of master and officers “not as required.”
HOS SHOOTING STAR – an offshore supply vessel detained in Spain for International Safety Management not as required and missing a garbage management plan.
LORELEI – a vessel listed as “special activities” of only 99 gross tons detained in Italy for a laundry list of violations. One has to wonder if this vessel really was a commercial SOLAS vessel that should affect U.S. flag white list status.
RYAN T – an offshore supply vessel detained in Spain for certificates of masters and officers invalid; crew certificates not endorsed by flag state.
TRANSATLANTIC – a general cargo ship detained for not having a Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage Certificate. This ship is a low bidder for government cargo and operates with non-union crew. This vessel is notorious throughout the industry for subpar compliance. She is not typical of U.S. vessels in the commercial trade particularly because she does not use the more highly trained union mariners as crew.
Most are U.S. coastwise fleet that strayed overseas and got nailed.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;168489]The vast majority of US tugs do not meet IMO or Canadian standards. I worry every time I take a tug to a Canadian port. So far I have been lucky.[/QUOTE]
The nice thing about the Canadians is that when they act like a bunch of fucking Nazis they are very polite about it.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;168490]The nice thing about the Canadians is that when they act like a bunch of fucking Nazis they are very polite about it.[/QUOTE]
Actually, the Canadians are not only nice about it, but they usually look the other way too.
The Canadians were very easy until 911 and all the oppressive Homeland Security horseshit that the US started subjecting them to. We have become a bully bad neighbor for no reason, and they have just started to give us a bit of our own medicine.
It does irk me that the US is so open to Canadians who want to live and work here, both legally or illegally, but that the Canadians make it so unnecessarily hard for an American to go the other way.
[QUOTE=lm1883;168505]Funny, the Danes say the same thing.[/QUOTE]
It’s typical of Europeans to “forget” that the U.S. Ever did anything of significance for them. We financed all of them during the war. Finland is the only country that repaid its war debts to the U.S. After the war, we paid substantial sums to help rebuild Europe. NATO is a one way alliance in which the U.S. has guaranteed European security and freedom for 70 years without getting much support in return.
Without the U.S., all of Europe would have been under German rule by 1945. Without the U.S., from the 1945 through the present, most of Europe would have fallen under Russian rule.
But of course, the U.S. did nothing for Europe, it was only the Norwegian Merchant Navy that defeated Hitler, and held off the Russians for the last 70 years.
[QUOTE=Yeasty McFlaps;168483]Good thread. I’m glad to hear we are backed by MARAD at least. And how do we help keep this Chip fella in office?[/QUOTE]
Well first I’m not going to jump the gun. The verbal support of US Mariners and shipyards was strong but still just words. And while he reported on projects moved forward, they are port projects. This isn’t criticism - he hasn’t been in office long and active port projects and strong verbal support is more than I’ve seen in many years (plus many ports are in critical shape, so I can’t blame him for choosing them first and I believe focusing all resources on one segment at a time is probably the best strategy) - but the fact remains MARAD isn’t doing much actively right now for mariners or ship yards.
One other note, he spoke of meetings with Obama and Fox… So part of the progress seems to be that MARAD is starting to get some support from above. The question I didn’t get to ask is why. Is Chip is the first to push the administration? Maybe Fox has Obama is the one pushing these issues upstairs?
Or possibly the pentagon is pushing it due to CHINA concerns? I don’t know. He did mention the importance of the Jones act to the US Navy multiple times today… but I would think that if China was the primary concern then shipyards would be the top priority, not ports.
Anyway, we should learn more after the Jones Act conference last week (we had no plans for gCaptain to attend because past Jones Act conferences have all been circle jerks… But Mikey just booked a ticket and will attend this one in the hopes of getting more facts). So stand by.
