A new US bill is introduced by Congressman Garamendi aiming at energizing American Maritime Act. This legislation is expected to improve American national security by requiring a percentage of exports of Liquefied Natural Gas and crude oil to travel on US-flagged vessels.
Specifically, the US Congressman introduced H.R. 1240 requiring up to 30 percent of exports of strategic energy assets to travel on U.S.-flagged vessels.
“The state of the American maritime industry is in crisis-level decline. We’re the most powerful nation in the world, but 99 percent of our trade travels on foreign-flagged ships. To develop the kinds of jobs that will keep the American economic engine moving, we need to right this ship and grow America’s maritime sector.” said US Congressman Garamendi.
He further explained that this legislation has strong support from the domestic maritime industry. Also, the Transportation Institute, which represents U.S. flag ship owners and operators, fully supports this legislation, because it says it will strengthen merchant marine by creating jobs and ensuring that this dangerous cargo is carried aboard U.S.-flag fleet by skilled mariner workforce.
