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General Accounting Office News

13 Nov 2018

U.S. Flag Vessel Safety

Image: NTSB

Congressional and Agency Actions to Implement Changes to U.S.-Flag Vessel Safety Requirements Three Years after the M/V El Faro IncidentOctober 1, 2018 marked three years since the tragic sinking of the M/V El Faro – ranking as one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history and resulting in the highest death toll for a U.S. commercial vessel sinking in almost 40 years. Following this incident, both the  National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Coast Guard spent considerable  effort to investigate this incident.

17 Sep 2018

Maritime Industry's Slow Boat to Cyber Security

© vectorfusionart/AdobeStock

Ports making up for lost timeDespite the critical role the maritime transportation system plays in the economic health of the United States, and despite its fairly recent embrace of all things automated – cranes, vehicles, surveillance and even vessels – the sector has been slow to warm to the need to protect its digital systems and assets.Post 9/11, security concerns about the nation’s borders, air space and infrastructure, including ports, moved front and center for a brief moment before other concerns…

01 Mar 2017

Last Port of Call for the U.S. Merchant Marine?

Part II in a two-part series, continued from the January 2017 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. Read Part I here. If reliance on the foreign commercial market is risky because of uncertain reliability, then what of U.S. Government ownership of a fleet of vessels? That has also been on the menu since the early 20th century. President Woodrow Wilson proposed in September 1914 that the U.S. Government acquire commercial cargo vessels. Congress disagreed, which delayed enactment of the President’s proposal until the Shipping Act, 1916. A compromise was struck to permit U.S. Government ownership as a war time measure – but all vessels so acquired had to be sold to private owners within five years of the end of the war.

06 Feb 2017

Last Port of Call for the US Merchant Marine?

(Photo: © Lefteris Papaulakis / Adobe Stock)

The privately owned U.S.-flag foreign trading fleet, which is an essential component of U.S. sealift capability, stands on the edge of a precipice. The fleet – roughly stable in terms of cargo carrying capacity from 2000 to 2012 – has declined from 106 vessels in 2012 to 78 vessels at October 30, 2016 primarily because of a substantial decline in available U.S. Government-reserved cargo. The size of the fleet has reached a point where the viability of the U.S.-flag industry involved in foreign trade – including its trained mariners…

10 Sep 2003

GAO Issues Invasive Species Report

The General Accounting Office (GAO) issued its report on invasive species: state and other non-federal perspectives on challenges to managing the problem. The report discusses state perspectives on: (1) gaps in federal legislation addressing invasive species; (2) barriers to managing invasive species; (3) effective leadership structures for addressing invasive species; and (4) integrating federal aquatic and terrestrial invasive species legislation. Current ballast water requirements were cited as inadequate. Source: HK Law

10 Sep 2003

Oversight Committee Discusses Marine Safety

conducted an oversight hearing regarding transportation security. task. Mr. Jeffrey Shane, Under Secretary of Transportation Policy, discussed the role of the Department of Transportation regarding security and its coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, discussed the agency's strategy to reduce maritime security risks through: (1) increasing maritime domain awareness, (2) implementing preventative measures, (3) securing borders and protecting infrastructure, and (4) preparing to respond quickly if necessary.

23 Oct 2003

News: Committee Discusses Marine Safety

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation conducted an oversight hearing regarding transportation security. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Committee Chair, noted that maritime security remains a daunting task. Mr. Jeffrey Shane, Under Secretary of Transportation Policy, discussed the role of the Department of Transportation regarding security and its coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. Admiral Thomas Collins, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, discussed the agency's strategy to reduce maritime security risks through: (1) increasing maritime domain awareness, (2) implementing preventative measures, (3) securing borders and protecting infrastructure, and (4) preparing to respond quickly if necessary.

13 Nov 2003

Legal Beat: At Sea with U.S. Maritime Security

By Dennis L. The U.S. Coast Guard issued its final regulations implementing the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA). These regulations replace the interim rules issued on July 1, 2003 and take into account comments received thereon. Few substantive changes, though, have been made. The majority of the changes are in the nature of clarifications. The submission date for security plans was changed from December 29 to December 31, 2003. Vessel and facility security plans must be in full effect not later than July 1, 2004. Various alternative security programs submitted by specialized industry groups were approved. Overall, the Coast Guard is to be congratulated for its development of a program for enhancing U.S.

24 Feb 2004

Security Challenges at Chem Facilities

At a hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations of the House Committee on Government Reform, John B. Stephenson, Director of Natural Resources and Environment of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) testified that chemical facilities may be an attractive target for terrorists. Only those chemical facilities located adjacent to waterways are currently required to prepare and submit security plans. In accordance with the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), such chemical plant and other waterfront facilities are required to submit security plans to the U.S. Coast Guard. GAO-04-482T (Source: HK Law).

19 Mar 2004

Oversight Hearing on US-VISIT Program

The Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims of the House Committee on the Judiciary conducted an oversight hearing on the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program. This is the program, currently being phased in, that will process all non-citizens entering the United States, including crewmembers on foreign ships. Robert Jacksta, Executive Director of Border Security and Facilitation, Department of Homeland Security, discussed efforts of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to secure U.S borders against terrorism. Robert Mocny, Deputy Director, US-VISIT Program, provided an overview of the program and its current status. Randolph C.

01 Apr 2004

GAO: Challenges for Container Inspection

The General Accounting Office (GAO) released its testimony to Congress on challenges faced in targeting oceangoing containers for inspection. The report indicates there are problems with both planning and execution of the targeting program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The current strategy neither incorporates all key elements of a risk management framework nor is it entirely consistent with recognized modeling practices. Records maintained by field units are inadequate to demonstrate that the program is executed as planned. Safety questions have also not been adequately addressed. GAO-04-557T (HK Law).

05 Apr 2004

Salvage: Time is of the Essence

By Richard B. A riddle: How many years, and how many Administrations does it take for an esteemed U.S. government agency to publish regulations that have likely already been written? The answer is 13 years and five Admirals. Thirteen surely is an unlucky number for the professional marine salvage industry in the United States, for it has, indeed, taken this many years for the United States Coast Guard to publish its proposed salvage regulations (to amend 33 CFR Part 155, Salvage & Marine Firefighting Requirements), which, after all this time, have once again been postponed for three more years. The future of these proposed regulations is as difficult to predict as the weather. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was the legislative response to a major shipping casualty within our borders.

19 May 2004

Oversight Hearing on Terrorism Risk Insurance Program

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs conducted an oversight hearing on the terrorism risk insurance program. The Honorable Brian Roseboro, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance of the Treasury Department, testified about implementation of the program. He acknowledged that there has been little “up take” of terrorism insurance, but declined to speculate on the reason. Mr. Richard Hillman, General Accounting Office (GAO), testified that significant progress has been made in the implementation of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), but that Treasury still has numerous tasks unfinished. Mr. John Degnan, The Chubb Corporation, recommended that the TRIA be extended for two additional years. Mr.

29 Jun 2004

GAO: USCG Deepwater Acquisition Schedule Update Needed

The General Accounting Office has called for the US Coast Guard to update it Acquisition Schedule in keeping with the many changes that have been made to the $17 billion program that was announced in 2002. each budget submission. linking assets.

11 Jan 2002

Money Talks

The American Shipbuilding Association has long bemoaned the level of U.S. Navy funding, arguing that the amount of spending on new ships would, in the future, leave the force woefully under-equipped to handle its duties of defense. Though the ASA is but the lobbying voice of the country's "Big Six" shipbuilders — by consolidation now reduced to, in effect, the Big Two — would be the primary beneficiaries of a spending splurge, it now seems the arguments presented were visionary, as the U.S. enters a gray area in international relations with the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the resultant war in Afghanistan.

20 Mar 2002

USCG Budget and Management Challenges Discussed

The General Accounting Office (GAO) released the testimony presented at the March 19, 2002 hearing before the Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The testimony, entitled Coast Guard: Budget and Management Challenges for 2003 and Beyond, discussed the effect of the homeland security mission on the service's other missions; issues regarding future mission balance; and challenges facing the future Coast Guard. Source: HK Law

14 Mar 2002

Combating Terrorism: Protecting the United States

Reform conducted a hearing on Combating Terrorism: Protecting the United States. In a news release, issued prior to the hearing, the Subcommittee noted that the purpose of the hearing is to assess progress to date, near-term challenges, and long-term goals of certain efforts to protect the United States from terrorist attacks. With regard to port security, the Subcommittee noted that, in the Port of New York alone, 10,000 ships and 3 million containers arrived in the year 2001. The General Accounting Office presented Testimony at the hearing noting, among other things, that the Coast Guard is developing three new maritime security levels and has instituted its 'Sea Marshal' program to improve port security.

26 Mar 2002

Tank Barge Industry Leads the Way in Double Hull Conversions

The American Waterways Operators AWO says that the tank barge industry is leading the way as American companies make the multi-billion dollar investment required to transform the nation's fleet of oil-carrying tank vessels into environmentally friendly double hulls. More than 65 percent of the U.S. tank barge fleet is double-hulled today, more than 13 years before the 2015 deadline set by Congress in the landmark Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). Even as government and industry sources agree that there is a surplus of tonnage on the market today - more vessels than are needed to meet U.S. demand for oil transportation - America's tank barge operators are leading the transition to an all-double hull fleet. According to U.S. Coast Guard data, U.S.

09 May 2002

Bath Iron Works Files GAO Protest

Bath Iron Works, a unit of General Dynamics, has filed a protest with the General Accounting Office (GAO) challenging the fairness of the Navy’s DD(X) evaluation process. Bath Iron Works was the leader of the BLUE Team in that competition; the team included Lockheed Martin Corp., United Defense Industries, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, L-3 Corp. and others. “After careful review of the facts provided during the Navy’s debriefing, it is obvious to us that the selection process was not consistent with the established evaluation criteria, and thereby gave an unfair advantage to the GOLD Team,” said Allan Cameron, president of Bath Iron Works.

30 May 2002

GAO Issues VIS

The General Accounting Office (GAO) issued its report entitled Coast Guard: Vessel Identification System Development Needs to Be Reassessed. The Vessel Identification System (VIS) was intended to provide ensure that each vessel operating in the United States had a unique identification number. The program, which focuses primarily on recreational vessels, depended heavily on state participation, but many states have been unwilling or unable to commit necessary funds. The report notes that the Coast Guard has declined to adopt a rigorous acquisition process for this program. Source: HK Law

28 Jul 1999

Oil Producers Left Out of Emergency Spending Bill

U.S. Senate and House negotiators have left out several programs in a nearly $15 billion emergency spending bill that would have helped U.S. oil and natural gas producers. While language was left in the spending measure to delay new royalty valuation rules on crude oil production, lawmakers rejected separate programs to provide emergency loans and other royalty relief to small oil and natural producers. Negotiators also turned down a proposal to allow natural gas producers to forgo paying hundreds of millions of dollars in interest due on refunds to customers. The original intent of the emergency spending bill, which will be voted on by the full Congress and then sent to President Clinton for his approval, was to provide money to fight the war in Yugoslavia. Oil Royalties: Sen.

17 Aug 2000

Tackling The Issues: ICCL Stands Its Ground

With its shining reputation besmirched in recent years with a list of transgressions, from illegal dumping to sexual assault, the cruise industry has been under the legislative microscope. The International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) works to ensure that its member lines are kept abreast on current issues dealing with topics related to the environment, safety and legislation, to name a few. In order to examine these issues to the core, MR/EN tapped the expertise of Ted Thompson, a retired U.S. Coast Guard captain, who now serves as ICCL's executive director. The cruise industry because of its high profile is constantly under fire regarding various issues…

21 Sep 2000

Ballast Water Management & Treatment Take Center Stage

While ballast water environmental issues have been news for decades, a renewed focus on the marine industry, specifically the effects ships and boats have on the aquatic environment, is picking up steam and not looking to slowdown. Per an executive order from President Clinton, the U.S. Invasive Species Council is finally getting off the ground, a council which will study the problem and make recommendations regarding treatment. A recent report from the General Accounting Office (GAO-RCED-00-219) found that the U.S. federal goverment spent $513 million in FY ‘99 and will spend $631 million in FY ‘00 for activities related to invasive species.