Prepared Remarks of
Sean T. Connaughton
Maritime Administrator
for the
Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) Membership Meeting
at the
Maritime Institute for Technology and Advanced Graduate Studies
(MITAGS)
Program
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
1:00 p.m.
I appreciate the kind invitation to address the members of the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP). In reviewing your program, I was impressed by the scope and depth of the topics covered and the distinguished speakers and panelists that have been assembled to discuss them. And thanks to MITAGS for providing such a fine setting.
The Ship Operations Cooperative Program members are crucial partners in advancing the shared interests and goals of the Maritime Administration. The strong commitment among SOCP members to see that our industry remains strong, safe, and competitive is seen through a variety of SOCP contributions, including:
· Active participation in the development and submittal of organizational comments on Notice of Proposed Rule Makings (NPRM) for Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC); and
· Providing similar support to the development of Merchant Mariner Credentials (MMC).
I’d also like to thank SOCP members for contributing their time, effort, and expertise in the development of the new ‘Mariner Administrative Card—known in our world of acronyms as the ‘MAC.’ The concept of the card reflects both the Maritime Administration’s commitment to the vision of the Department of Transportation by addressing the transportation congestion problem. While reducing administrative burdens for ships and crews, we are able to decrease their processing time at crucial chokepoints while providing our authorities with another means of improved security.
SOCP members have also graciously offered their staff to participate in ‘Lean Six Sigma Process’ streamlining sessions designed to improve efficiency. In addition, many members have offered their vessels to test and evaluate evolving technologies such as ballast water treatment equipment.
Again, I thank each and every one of you for your vigorous participation and your lead-by-doing example.
Being here today gives me the opportunity to share with
like-minded proponents of
It involves passengers and different commodities that either can be carried in containers or considered ‘break bulk’, ‘liquid bulk’, ‘dry bulk’, and roll on-roll off cargoes.
It incorporates individuals and companies with operations
that span across two magnificent oceans, the chain of Great Lakes, and the
expanse of the
The maritime industry has always been the most international of all industries, and is more so today. It demands that we measure our competitiveness not domestically, but in an increasingly global environment.
As a leader in the foremost international industry,
America’s network of waterways moves more than 2.2 billion tons of domestic and foreign commerce each year, while the top 50 ports in the U.S. account for about 84% of all waterborne domestic and international cargo tonnage.
Our maritime infrastructure will continue to grow in
importance throughout the coming years and long into the future. Conservative estimates project that
Clearly,
Our maritime industry must have careful and strategic investment. Our people—the most vital part of the maritime infrastructure must continue to reap the benefits of constantly improved training. The transportation of goods, services, people, and ideas cannot become a chokepoint of commerce that could hinder our nation’s growth. We are a maritime industry leader, and we must continue to put forth our best efforts in all these areas to maintain this role within the global marketplace.
Congestion is a daunting obstacle – one that we at the Department of Transportation are determined to face and solve. We cannot allow our ports to become overwhelmed and our distribution network to get mired down in transportation entanglements and contagious inefficiency. When goods and services are not flowing, the economy suffers. And this economic slowdown erases any efficiency gained from improved training methods or vessel and cargo handling designs.
I know all too well how congestion can adversely impact our quality of life and stunt our economic development. When I served as an elected official in one of our nation’s fastest-growing counties I witnessed first-hand the challenges facing our transportation system.
Congestion is a systemic problem and affects all
means of transportation on our highways, railways, airways, and our port
facilities. Already it costs
Last May, the Bush Administration rolled out a comprehensive
Congestion Relief Initiative. As the
administrator for the Maritime Administration, I am bringing my experience to bear
on relieving congestion along
I need your help. I invite members of SOCP to offer your valued experience, your qualified insights, and your unique expertise in addressing congestion. Those of you directly involved in maritime transportation constitute a valuable pool of knowledge and resources that can be applied to finding a practical solution to this growing specter. I look forward to cooperatively developing strategies, training, and designs to make sure that we continue to support our great economy.
For our part, the Maritime Administration has knowledge, expertise, and vast resources to draw from as we work to improve the flow of goods to and from our ports.
I recently went to the West Coast to sit down and discuss
how my administration can work with major stakeholders at the ports of
By working directly with industry leaders, we are making sure that we are pursuing practical solutions, not ‘ivory tower’ schemes set up to test unproven theories as we watch with dismay as congestion eats away at our productivity.
One of the top priorities I have given myself is to reshape the Maritime Administration to conform both the organization and our goals to the rapid changes within the industry and the challenges facing our maritime infrastructure.
I want to position our agency as a crucial component in the overall mission of the Department of Transportation and as an advocate for rational responses to modern challenges.
Our nation’s new Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, has clear priorities: Safety, Improving System Performance and Reliability , and Finding 21st Century Solutions to the transportation challenges of this new century, such as investment. I look forward to working with our industry to advance these goals. We have a lot at stake, but we also have many great minds who can help us find the right solutions.
As currently envisioned, the Maritime Administration will be organized to address four areas: national and international transportation facilitation, compliance, domestic industry development, and national security.
Our industry, whether ashore or afloat, is faced with an ever-widening array of requirements regarding the protection of the environment, safety, and security. That’s why all international, federal, state, and local programs developed must be coordinated to work more effectively.
As a vessel and facility owner and operator, the Maritime Administration can directly implement and assess the best practices and ensure implementation of appropriate methodologies to satisfy both current and proposed marine safety, security and environmental protection standards. From this unique position, the Maritime Administration can be the advocate from the industry and the government agency with the power to implement the best strategies for the maritime industry.
As I am surrounded by like-minded industry representatives
today, I feel that another of my agency’s goals is perhaps too obvious—the systematic
encouragement of investment within the
I believe as do many others in this room, that we must secure continuous and increased investment to make congestion mitigation a reality. The impending capacity crunch in our intermodal system is so vast that public or private sector sources alone cannot meet these challenges. We must work together.
Ben Franklin is forever identified with this memorable line about the near impossibility of individual states becoming a nation, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately”.
With a strong emphasis on partnerships across modes of transportation, federal agencies, levels of government, and facilities managers, we can repeat the success that Ben Franklin witnessed at our nation’s founding.
As many of you know, in Section 109 of the MTSA Congress specified that the Maritime Administration, under the auspices of the DOT, be authorized to provide maritime training. My agency has taken prompt advantage of this opportunity and has made a significant investment in maritime training and education. We support numerous outreach and continuing education programs, six state maritime academies and, of course, the nation’s premier institution in the field of maritime education, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Graduates of our academies are noted for their skills and accomplishments on sea and on land, and as a Kings Point alum, I am very proud to belong to that group of dedicated men and women.
Through its collaborative relationship with the Coast Guard and the Government of India, the USMMA team wrote three model maritime security courses for the International Maritime Organization (IMO). After their review by an international validation panel, they have now become the established international standard for maritime security education and training.
Recently, the Academy launched a Master of Marine Engineering (MmarE) Degree Program. This distance learning degree allows marine engineering professionals an opportunity to advance their technical education while continuing in their current capacities. Thanks to this flexible program, students are being equipped with a wide array of cutting edge skills and a deep pool of knowledge to keep them up to date, keep them competitive, and keep them as valued employees of the industry.
Of course, the global war on terror has brought the concept
of security from the broad concept down to the very doorsteps of every home,
office, and vehicle in our country. Throughout
the world, attitudes and concepts toward security are changing. Through it all, the Maritime Administration has
kept its focus clear:
More than 90% of the material for the War on Terror has been
carried to the
And we will continue to be the lead agency in preparing our commercial industry and ports to deal with any emergency, whether natural or man-made that threatens our security or stability in the future.
Let me end by offering you my pledge that the Maritime
Administration will continue to safeguard
Thank you.
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