Rand Corporation News

The 2023 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) will be held Nov. 14-16, 2023, as an in-person event, hosted by Maritime College, State University of New York (SUNY) at the Maritime Academic Center. The theme of the 14th annual event is “Managing Impacts of Supply Chain Disruptors, Renewable Energy, Emerging Technology on the Maritime Transportation System (MTS)” with a focus on offshore infrastructure risk and disruptors. Founded in 1874, Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States, providing mariner training for 150 years.

When Russia attacked Ukraine, the nearest naval vessel of a major NATO ally was in the Mediterranean. The last such ship from a major naval member of the Western military alliance left the Black Sea – an area roughly the size of California bordering Russia, Ukraine and NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – over a month ago.A French warship completed a tour in early January and no major NATO naval ally has patrolled its waters since, according to Turkish maritime website Turkishnavy.net, which tracks the movements of foreign warships.

The State University of New York Maritime College, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, National Academy of Sciences, academic institutions, industry partners, and federal, state and local agencies, will host the 10th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS 2019) Nov. 13-15, 2019, at New York Maritime College located in the Bronx, New York.MRS 2019 will bring together academics, government and commercial entities to discuss the threats, challenges and risks associated with the Marine Transportation System with a focus on current and future marine transportation challenges and threats.

Energy.It seems that energy touches every aspect of our lives from heating our homes to ensuring that fresh produce is available at grocery stores. It powers our cars and allows industry to move products around the world. The connection between energy and risk to the maritime environment has been a growing area of discussion, research and analysis. The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, within its Joint Doctrine Publication (JDOP 0-10) 5th edition UK Maritime Power, captured this issue superbly: “Fossil fuels and minerals are an important resource in the maritime environment. New deposits of oil and gas, as well as mineral wealth, are discovered under the seabed each year, and improvements in technology will facilitate future exploitation.

The first of 10 Stan Tug 1907 ICE vessels has been delivered by Great Lakes Shipyard to its sister company The Great Lakes Towing Company, both based in Ohio, U.S. Named Cleveland, the vessel marks a milestone in a licencing program agreed between Damen Shipyards Group and Great Lakes Shipyard following discussions that began in 2014. While the initial agreement is for the series build of 10 tugs for Great Lakes Towing, the vessels will also be available to third party buyers on a priority basis. The Stan Tug 1907 ICE is a compact design capable of 30-tons of bollard pull.

The Abbott Government is committed to a sustainable Australian naval shipbuilding industry. Sadly, years of neglect by the former Labor government has left shipbuilding in a precarious and uncertain state. Labor’s ‘valley of death’ – which will soon be upon us – could have been avoided. For all their posturing, in six years they did not commission a single naval vessel from an Australian yard. Decisions on the replacement frigates for the ANZAC fleet and new submarines to replace the Collins Class should have been taken during the previous Government’s time.

The Australian Navy’s future submarine project has been excluded from the country's shipbuilding review on advice from the Abbott government that the new fleet would be built offshore. The review’s final report, published on Thursday, contained some passing references to the future submarine project, including the fact the government had been looking at offshore construction of the fleet. "Australia's $40 billion future submarine project was left out of a key consultant's report on the local shipbuilding industry on the instructions of the Abbott government," says an observer. But consultants from the US-based military research think-tank Rand Corporation confirmed the government had set terms of reference that excluded the submarine issue…

Adm. Thad W. Allen announced that after completing his service as national incident commander of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he will join the RAND Corporation as a senior fellow, effective Oct. “Thad Allen has served the U.S. government and U.S. Coast Guard with great distinction,” said RAND President and CEO James A. Thomson. “We are delighted he will continue to take on the most difficult policy challenges as a RAND senior fellow. Allen was scheduled to join RAND in May 2010, shortly after he retired as commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. But his transition was delayed when he was asked by President Obama to manage the oil spill emergency response and clean-up, for which his leadership has been widely praised.

On Feb. 4, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, will convene the Subcommittee to gather information on the causes and extent of piracy and to understand its effect on international shipping. Although no U.S.-flagged vessels have been attacked or seized by pirates, the expansion of international piracy—particularly in the Horn of Africa region—threatens to raise the costs of transporting goods through a highly traveled region at a time of significant distress in the world economy. WHO: Congressman Elijah E. Independence Ave. at S. Washington, D.C. Rear Admiral William D. U.S. Mr. U.S. Mr. Captain Phil M. Mr. Mr.

The U.S. Coast Guard's ongoing effort to update its fleet of cutters and air vehicles over 20 years will not equip the service to perform both its traditional missions and responsibilities that have emerged since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, so claimed a recently issued RAND Corporation study. To obtain adequate assets, the Coast Guard needs to accelerate its planned purchases of cutters and air vehicles, and explore new platform options, emerging technologies and operational changes that would leverage the capabilities of its surface and air fleets, according to the RAND report. Such a two-pronged strategy may satisfy demand more quickly and at less cost than just expanding the Coast Guard's original modernization plan…

By Capt. Gordon I. This June's two-year anniversary of the Coast Guard's award of contract for the Integrated Deepwater System reflects steady progress in efforts to modernize the nation's maritime guardians, but heightened concerns over falling readiness have led some congressional lawmakers to renew calls to accelerate the comprehensive 20-plus-year recapitalization program. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins described his concern over current readiness trends in early March during congressional testimony on the Bush administration's proposed fiscal year 2005 budget. "Our greatest threat to mission performance continues to be that our aircraft…

Limiting maritime security to screening cargo arriving at U.S. seaports is a dangerous mistake, according to a new RAND Corporation report, which suggests that cruise ships and ferry boats offer rich and often easier targets for terrorists. "Focusing solely on securing the container supply chain without defending other parts of the maritime environment is like bolting down the front door of a house and leaving the back door wide open," said Henry Willis, a RAND researcher and a co-author of the report in a press release. According to the report, Maritime Terrorism: Risk and Liability, attacks on civilian cruise ships and ferry boats would fulfill the three main goals of contemporary terrorist attacks -- visibility, destruction and disruption.

Recognizing the expanded need for coordination and information sharing between the federal, state and local governments at our ports, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order creating the California Maritime Security Council (CMSC). "California's ports are vital not only to our own economy, but to the nation's economic health as well. Our state handles nearly half of all the port traffic in the United States and more than $4.5 billion in cargo moves through the Port of San Diego every year," said Gov. Schwarzenegger. Reports recently published by the Rand Corporation and the Public Policy Institute of California underscored the importance of California's ports and the devastating impact a catastrophic event would have on California's economy.