'08 budget plan covers Maritime Security Program

'08 budget plan covers Maritime Security Program

The President's proposed fiscal 2008 budget for the Maritime Administration includes $154.45 million for the Maritime Security Program.

The Department of Transportation said the amount - included in the spending plan sent to Congress Feb. 6 - would cover the program's 60 U.S.-flagged merchant ships at the level authorized by law.

"MARAD will continue to retain a fleet of 60 active, militarily useful, privately owned vessels to meet national defense and other security requirements and to maintain a U.S. presence in commercial shipping," the DOT budget message said. "The Maritime Security Program, together with the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement Program, the Ready Reserve Force and the war risk insurance program, assures the Department of Defense access to ships and crews during DOD mobilizations and helps ensure the efficient flow of military cargo through commercial ports." MARAD is an agency in DOT.

Under the MSP, each of the 60 ships would receive $2.6 million in direct operating aid in fiscal 2008, which begins next Oct. 1. The stipend is intended to help the ships compete against lower-cost foreign-flagged vessels in commercial international trade.

In exchange for the operating assistance, the ships, their crews and all intermodal assets and logistics support systems owned or leased by participating U.S.-flagged shipping companies are available to DOD as needed for strategic sealift and other military support services in national security emergencies.

The Maritime Security Act of 1996 authorized the Maritime Security Program, covering 47 U.S.-flagged vessels for 10 years.

The program was renewed through 2015 under provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2004. The MSP renewal legislation increased the maximum number of eligible ships to 60 and raised the annual per-ship stipend gradually.

American Maritime Officers represents the engine and deck officers aboard 13 ships participating in the Maritime Security Program.

The proposed fiscal 2008 MARAD budget also recommended:

$115 for operations and training, including funding of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., and grants to state-operated maritime academies in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, California and Michigan
No money for new obligations under the shipbuilding loan and mortgage guarantee program authorized in Title XI of the 1936 Merchant Marine Act "The budget request proposes to fund the administration of the existing guaranteed loan portfolio through a transfer from unobligated balances," DOT said.
$20 million "to remove 16 obsolete ships from the National Defense Reserve Fleet for disposal"
An estimated $219 million for programs that support "sealift requirements and readiness levels" for the U.S. Ready Reserve Force.

The RRF itself is funded through the Department of Defense, but the ships - most of them manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers - are managed for the Navy's Military Sealift Command by MARAD.

"RRF vessels were used in Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan) and continue to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom," DOT noted. "The initial activation of the vessels for Iraqi Freedom was the fastest and most efficient sealift in U.S. history. Vessels from the RRF also participated as part of the DOT emergency response team for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on the Gulf Coast."

In addition to $295 for MARAD, the President's proposed DOT budget included nearly $3 billion to improve U.S. port security, $531 million for cargo security initiatives, $97 million for Maritime Domain Awareness intelligence collection and analysis, and $210 million for port security grants to private interests.

Front Page

Return To Section-Front