SUP-contracted Matson Navigation Company christened the largest containership ever built in the United States in a ceremony at the Philly Shipyard on June 30.
On National Maritime Day, the introduction of the bipartisan Energizing American Shipbuilding Act was announced during a press conference featuring the bill’s sponsor in the House of Representatives, Congressman John Garamendi (D-California), and its sponsor in the Senate, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).
Sixty-six bipartisan Members of Congress stood up for good jobs, a strong U.S. maritime industry, and national security by supporting strong cargo preference –or “Ship American”– laws, by sending a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of Transportaion Elaine Chao.
On March 23, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 was signed into law after being approved by Congress ahead of the deadline to avert a partial shutdown of the federal government. The Appropriations Act provides, and in some cases exceeds, statutory funding for key maritime programs for the current fiscal year.
American President Lines announced last month a new foreign-flag Eagle Express X (EXX) service, offering an 11-day transit from Shanghai to Los Angeles.
USA Maritime, which the Sailors’ Union is a member, has joined with a large and diverse group of organizations urging the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program and the Food for Progress program. As stated in the Coalition’s January 30 letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, “these programs improve livelihoods and educational opportunities, while building the political stability and capacity necessary to grow future markets for U.S. agricultural products.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation told the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that Matson Navigation Company’s “untimely” challenge to federal subsidies granted to rival container shipper American President Lines for Guam and Saipan trade routes as part of the Maritime Security Program must be rejected for lack of jurisdiction.
A ship captain’s unwillingness to listen to his crew’s suggestions to change course from the path of a raging hurricane; A weak corporate safety culture that left crewmembers ill-prepared to deal with heavy weather; An old ship with outdated lifeboats, open to the elements are factors that contributed to the sinking of the El Faro in the fury of Hurricane Joaquin on October 1, 2015.
Congressman John Rutherford (R-Florida) and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) highlight the importance of American maritime for Puerto Rico’s recovery and the capacity and capability of Jones Act vessels to meet Puerto Rico’s present and future needs.
Every time a natural disaster in the United States requires the assistance of U.S.-flag shipping, the rats who shill for foreign interests swarm out of the sewers to call for the waiver or repeal of the Jones Act.