Mariner Education and Workforce Trends Subject of House Hearing
On Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation received testimony from the Coast Guard, the Maritime Administration (MARAD), and a panel composed of labor and industry representatives, on mariner education and workforce conditions. Subcommittee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), in his opening statement noted that the effect of imposing admirable yet expensive and time-consuming safety training requirements, such as those contained in the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Convention (SCTW), could prove to be a significant obstacle to marine advancement in the industry. The witness from the offshore industry asserted that STCW interpretations by the Coast Guard have been detrimental to mariner advancement and advocated a major revamping of STCW implementation in the United States. Coast Guard RADM Joel Whitehead noted that the agency is limited in authority to reduce the burden of STCW implementation, particularly with respect to required training. Notwithstanding, the Coast Guard is examining other methods for implementation of STCW requirements.
MARAD Administrator Sean Connaughton reviewed the agency’s current programs and stressed the need for highly trained mariners, especially in light of the growing LNG trade. Acknowledging that current MARAD programs are geared toward the deep sea segment of the maritime industry, the Maritime Administrator stated that the agency will proactively address the brown water mariner demand. For example, the agency has instituted a policy allowing maritime academy graduates to fulfill their service obligations to the government in the brown water sector of the industry. A labor representative stressed the importance of the Jones Act, the Maritime Security Program, Cargo Preference, and the Ready Reserve Force programs in providing an adequate manpower pool to satisfy U.S. commercial and strategic sealift needs. However, he warned that the current government decision to reduce the number of vessels and respective crews in the Ready Reserve Force could create significant problems by eroding the pool of well-trained, loyal, U.S. citizen crews whom our military depends upon during times of conflict.
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Safe Port Act: GAO Cites Progress and Challenges
In testimony before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Stephen Caldwell, Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues, Government Accountability Office, noted the progress and challenges remaining to the full implementation of the SAFE Port Act requirements.
Mr. Caldwell noted that federal agencies have improved the security of U.S. ports by sharing critical information with port stakeholders, moving towards establishment of interagency operation centers and updated security assessments at foreign ports. The private sector has also contributed by improving security at 3,000 private facilities. Current security plans in most cases need to be updated to include natural disaster response and recovery. Furthermore, the Department of Energy’s Megaports Initiative is confronting operational and technical difficulty in the installation of radiation detection equipment.
He also cited some of the challenges which remain such as Coast Guard budget constraints regarding the expansion of command centers and interfacing with other agencies at the centers. Also, a mandate to test 100% of all inbound containers is problematic in many cases. Lack of space at foreign ports for locating equipment and offsite scanning may increase shipment costs.
MARAD Releases Annual Report to Congress
The Maritime Administration has released its Annual Report to Congress for fiscal year 2006. The annual report provides a summary of the agency’s activities on behalf of the maritime industry. The report includes a statistical profile of the U.S. waterborne commerce in 2005, the agency’s efforts to promote the “marine highway” as an instrument to relieve growing surface transportation congestion, the licensing of liquefied natural gas deepwater ports, and maritime training and employment activities. The report can be accessed at http://www.marad.dot.gov.
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