The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the challenges that the US flag deep sea fleet is facing. This includes increasing operating costs and a declining number of qualified American mariners.
According to the report, the US government supports the US-registered fleet, helping it meet national defense needs. However, it has had a negative effect on some non-defense government programs.
Specifically, the U.S. government supports U.S.-flag vessels in two ways:
- An annual stipend provided through the Maritime Security Program (MSP);
- Cargo preferences that require federal agencies to transport certain percentages of government cargo on U.S.-flag vessels.
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These supports have helped ensure that a sufficient number of U.S.-flag vessels are available to meet the Department of Defense’s (DOD) cargo capacity needs. Despite the fact that cargo preference requirements have supported the financial viability of U.S.-flag vessels that take part in the MSP, they have impacted some non-defense programs.
GAO said that there are two main challenges in sustaining the internationally trading U.S.-flag fleet for national defense needs.
- Maintaining the financial viability of U.S.-flag vessels is a challenge. This challenge largely results from the higher costs of operating a U.S.-flag vessel. According to U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) officials, the additional cost of operating a U.S. flag vessel compared to a foreign-flag vessel has increased. In addition, government cargo volumes have fallen in recent years.
- A potential lack of U.S.-citizen mariners available to crew the government-owned reserve fleet during a crisis is a challenge. A MARAD working group recently estimated a shortage of over 1,800 mariners in the case of a drawn-out military effort, although it also recommended data improvements to increase the accuracy of the count of available mariners.
In addition, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has drafted but not issued the national maritime strategies. The strategies are intended to address U.S.-flag vessels’ competitiveness and ensure the viability of U.S.-flag vessels and U.S.-citizen mariners.
Finally, GAO recommended DOT to complete the national maritime strategy and set out time frames for its issuance.
See more information in the PDF herebelow