Also of note is that the primary source for the doom and gloom is the president of a labor union, not what I would consider an authoritative source on the impact to the shipping companies.
Captain Don Marcus, the labor union president that you're talking about, happens to be one of the smartest people I've ever had a chance to work with. He is also a tireless worker and advocate of the for the U.S. flag merchant marine. I'm sure he understands the issues far better than anybody I've ever seen post here. He's also a 1979 KP graduate; not that it matters. He wrote the following message to the MM&P membership in our May-June 2013 union magazine. In it he lays out the challenges that we U.S. mariners will be facing in the near future. While I wouldn't characterize the message as gloom and doom I think he does emphasize that the challenges that do lay before us are formidable.. The message is lengthy, but please take the time to read it..
Union Brothers and Sisters,
Once again in the history of our chosen profession, foreign wars are winding down and the U.S.-flag merchant marine is being consigned to the dustbin. While all is not lost, the merchant marine must rally before our industrial capacity sinks to a point of no return.
The Obama administration’s attack on the PL-480 Food for Peace program makes it clear that many in the executive branch of our government are clueless about the value of our industry. The Food for Peace program was designed to alleviate suffering in foreign countries while at the same time promoting U.S. exports and U.S. jobs. Given the nature of Food for Peace, it is incomprehensible that the administration could propose turning it into a cash give-away program. The agency promoting this travesty, USAID, has provided absolutely no credible evidence that doling out cash to third parties would provide more relief than physically delivering food.
What’s more, the concept that U.S. foreign aid programs could continue to be supported in this era of austerity and budget cuts without any secondary benefit to American workers, farmers and taxpayers, makes one wonder how far from reality the policy-makers in Washington really are. Maritime labor and our allies in the maritime industry as well as in agriculture are rallying Congress to fight off this latest attack. As we go to press, thanks to the efforts of Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and others in Congress on both sides of the aisle, we have made progress. However, the fight to preserve the Food for Peace program in particular and cargo preference in general is far from over. Even more significantly, a look at the condition of the U.S. merchant fleet makes it clear that effective action is necessary now if it is to continue as an economic and military force.
President Obama’s administration would almost certainly not be in office without the support of labor. The President ran on a platform of providing jobs for Americans, but maritime workers have been left high and dry. The pending appointment of a new Secretary of Transportation is welcome news to anyone who hopes for more than fatuous lip-service. Further change is required at the Department of Transportation (DOT). Despite statements to the contrary by appointed officials at DOT, repairing a pier and a few buildings at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy does not demonstrate our government’s commitment to the U.S. merchant marine. If our administration has determined to allow our industry to wither and die, it is our duty to inform the country of the economic and national security repercussions that will follow.
Fortunately, our friends in Congress, the Department of Defense and its transportation agency, the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) understand the gravity of the situation. Also, there is reason for optimism at the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). The promotional agency of the U.S. merchant marine has the dedicated personnel and ability to advocate for and enforce many of the laws and regulations pertaining to our industry. MARAD, with effective leadership and industry support, could be more effective. MARAD must be given the support it needs by the administration and within DOT.
What is lacking, besides leadership, is a coherent national maritime policy. While the same could also be said about many other American industries, it has not always been that way for the U.S.-flag merchant marine. This needs to change if we are to do more than fight delaying actions while the industry continues to melt away. Since the loss of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in 1995 and the enactment of the life-saving Maritime Security Act of that year—if not well before that during the Reagan era (when, among other things, the Construction Differential Subsidy Program was killed and the Operational Differential Subsidy Program was crippled)—our maritime industrial policy has foundered. Various champions in Congress and elsewhere in government have stepped into the breach to keep us afloat since that time. However, by sheer passage of time the effect of a rudderless and incoherent maritime agenda continues to take its toll. The decline in the number of ocean-going vessels in the U.S. merchant marine is sufficient to tell the story. In 1990 there were approximately 450 U.S.-flag commercial vessels in domestic and international trade. Today, there are fewer than 200. Less than two percent of our foreign trade is carried aboard U.S.- flag vessels. The critical mass necessary to maintain a viable merchant marine is fading away ship by ship.
Of course, at least in theory, national maritime policy already exists. It consists of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 and its many amendments. The preamble to the Act states:
TITLE I – DECLARATION OF POLICY
SECTION 101. 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 waterborne export and import foreign commerce of the United States and to provide shipping service on all routes essential for maintaining the flow of such domestic and foreign water-borne 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, and
(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 hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to foster the development and encourage the maintenance of such a merchant marine.
This is a fine statement of policy. It was enacted to ensure that we had economic and military independence. But those familiar with our industry know that in 2013, this is a policy in name only. Action is required. We must demand it of our national leaders. While implementing a coherent national maritime policy in line with the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is a long reach in the current political environment, a starting point to regenerating our industry is insistence by Congress that the executive branch take every reasonable step to enforce our existing laws. Cargo Preference, the Jones Act and the Maritime Security Program are the most obvious and topical examples. Without clear and unequivocal support for these programs, the financial resources needed to modernize and expand the U.S.-flag fleet will not be available. Without more ships and the capacity to build them, the Jones Act and the U.S. merchant marine are doomed. Outgoing Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood treated the audience at the DOT Maritime Day 2013 commemoration to a classic example of Washington, D.C., doublespeak when he touted his agency’s support of the Title XI Ship financing program. The reality is that no Title XI funding for new commitments has been requested by Secretary LaHood or the administration.
For the merchant marine, infrastructure means ships. Without ships, the enemies of the U.S.-flag merchant marine will not need to repeal the Jones Act. It will simply become irrelevant and our merchant marine will get in line with those of Canada and Australia—other nations that lost their maritime industries when their shipbuilding capacity and cabotage laws were allowed to wither.
Our mission at MM&P is to demand more from our government. We are carrying out that objective by establishing Maritime Advisory Committees with our allies in major U.S. ports. These committees bring labor and management together as local constituents to the offices of our Congressional representatives. The newly established and bipartisan Congressional Maritime Caucus is the fruit of our efforts. Further, two bills recently introduced in Congress, HR 1678, the “Saving Essential American Sailors (SEAS)” Act and HR 949 the “Invest in American Jobs Act” indicate that some in Congress understand the gravity of the situation. The first bill, introduced by Congressmen Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.), would reverse the drastic cuts made to the cargo preference program at the end of last year, reductions that were made prior to the administration’s plan to decimate what is left of the Food for Peace program. The second bill, introduced by Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), would require U.S. ownership and crews for vessels working in the exclusive economic zone of the United States. Whether these bills will see the light of day given the current Congressional logjam is open to question. There is no doubt, however, that with our prompting, our friends in Congress have the ability to push the administration to enforce the laws and regulations that are already on the books. They have the ability to demand competent and effective leadership at DOT and MARAD: leaders who understand that our country’s economic and military security depend on a capable merchant marine. We are pledged to work with our friends in Congress, in labor and in industry to put the U.S.-flag fleet back on an even keel. We ask for your help in this effort. We are looking for volunteers for our local maritime advisory committees, for members willing to write letters to their members of Congress and for contributions to our Political Action Fund, the MM&P PCF. Our families and the next generation of American mariners are counting on us.
Fraternally,
Don Marcus
MM&P International President