House Transportation Committee Funds Key Great Lakes Projects
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday approved $1 billion for U.S. Coast Guard shore side infrastructure nationwide and $350 million for a heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as part of its budget reconciliation bill, an action that the Great Lake Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) called “great news for the Great Lakes.”The GLMTF described the heavy Great Lakes icebreaker as desperately needed and expects that a portion of the infrastructure funds will go to good…
US Maritime Industry Praises Biden's 'Buy American' Order
President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order aiming to use government spending to strengthen domestic manufacturing and create markets for new technologies, in a move widely praised by America's maritime industry.The executive order, titled Strengthening "Buy American" Provisions, Ensuring Future of America is Made in America by All of America’s Workers", calls for increasing the amount of U.S. content that must be in a product for it to be considered made in America under existing "Buy American" requirements.
AMP, AWO & Jones Act Operators Weigh In
A letter to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (U.S. Department of Energy) from American Maritime Partnership disputes EIA domestic tank vessel estimates. Ms. U.S. U.S. Washington, D.C. Dear Ms. Thank you for meeting with me, leaders of the American Waterways Operators, and senior representatives of four of the leading American tank vessel companies last week. We are gathering, and will soon forward to you, detailed information about the American tank barge fleet. As you know…
Employment Peaking at Great Lakes Shipyards
When the 1,000-ft-long Great Lakes freighter Edwin H. Gott arrived at Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, it marked the beginning of the busiest time of year for Great Lakes shipyards. This project and other annual winter maintenance work on U.S.-flag Great Lakes ships will provide jobs for more than 1,200 men and women at U.S. shipyards around the Great Lakes. The Gott, one of the largest U.S.-flag vessels working the Great Lakes, is having new engines installed this winter that will increase its fuel efficiency and significantly reduce its air emissions. The vessel, built in Sturgeon Bay in 1978, carries iron ore from the Twin Ports of Duluth…
U.S. Navy Opposes Repeal of Jones Act
The news that the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Navy League support the Jones Act and oppose its repeal was applauded by Maritime Cabotage Task Force (MCTF), the national coalition representing the U.S.-flag fleet engaged in domestic waterborne commerce. Both organizations dedicated to the defense of the United States have reaffirmed their support for the law, which is directly responsible for half a million U.S. jobs and vital to national security. In response to anti-Jones Act legislation introduced earlier this year, the U.S. Navy said, “For decades, U.S. merchant mariners have provided essential support for the U.S. Navy during times of war and national crisis. The statement comes within days of comments from Daniel B. The Jones Act establishes a U.S.
More Time to Comply with Discharge Regs
A team of K&L Gates LLP environmental and maritime lawyers representing a coalition of shipping interests has obtained an order from a United States District Judge in San Francisco to allow the maritime industry additional time to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly-issued requirements governing the discharge of pollutants from vessels. Enacted by the EPA on December 18, 2008, under the Clean Water Act, the 80-page Vessel General Permit was to have taken effect the following day. Applicable to most commercial vessels over 79 ft long, the permit requires the development of best management practices for 26 different discharge streams, including deck run-off.
