A coalition of maritime interests March 28 called for full compliance with U.S.-flag cargo preference laws on all U.S. food aid and post-war reconstruction shipments to Iraq
Efforts to secure funding for increased domestic port and maritime security failed in the Senate in April, leaving uncertain the implementation of new security requirements for the nation's maritime infrastructure that were signed into law last year.
Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) will receive the 2003 Salute to Congress Award from the Propeller Club of the United States.
The following was written by Captain Jack Hearn, master aboard the SS Northern Lights, in Kuwait. The Northern Lights is a Jones Act ship used by the Navy's Military Sealift Command in support of U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region. The Northern Lights, which ordinarily operates between Washington State and Alaska, is operated for Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) by Interocean Ugland Management Corp. The vessel is manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers and by a Seafarers International Union crew.
Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) has been named Port Person of the Year by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).
Captain Philip Shullo was recently appointed director of training at RTM STAR Center in Dania Beach, Fla. He replaces Tom Johnson, who resigned in March.
As of April 1, three people had died of heart failure after receiving the smallpox vaccination and there have been reports of chest pain (angina) in other cases. As a result, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have added a temporary medical deferral to the smallpox vaccination for anyone who has been diagnosed with heart disease.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative March 31 specifically ruled out the maritime sector as a negotiating issue in the next round of multilateral service trade talks supervised by the World Trade Organization.
