Feed items

The Seattle Times reports that the Ports of Tacoma (pictured) and Seattle ”are losing market share, and they lay part of the blame on the harbor-maintenance tax. Importers and shippers can bypass the levy — $1.25 per $1,000 in cargo — by entering through or Mexican ports and moving the goods to final U.S. destinations by truck or rail. Now the tax’s most-aggrieved critics are about to get relief — though not the solution they preferred.” Photo courtesy of City of Tacoma.Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate last week finalized a long-sought agreement to renew the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, the law governing the nation’s ports, dams, locks and maritime transportation and infrastructure needs. For the first time, the legislation reserves a portion of the pooled harbor-tax revenues for high-volume ports such as Seattle and Tacoma to give to their customers as rebates.
That provision, authored by Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, was tailored to aid “donor” ports that remit much more taxes to the federal Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund than they get back for needed dredging and maintenance work. But it’s unclear how...

From a news release published in Seapower Magazine:
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced an organizational realignment that will strengthen the agency’s ability to ensure the nation has sufficient capability to meet sealift needs during conflicts or national emergencies, according to a May 16 release from the Department of Transportation (DOT), which oversees MARAD.
The former Office of National Security is now the Office of Strategic Sealift, with three areas of focus; Federal Sealift, Commercial Sealift and Maritime Workforce. Federal Sealift continues to be responsible for Ready Reserve Force vessels, Emergency Preparedness and the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Commercial Sealift will coordinate both the Cargo Preference and Maritime Security Programs. The Office of Maritime Workforce Development will evaluate mariner training needs, and enforce service obligations for maritime academy graduates.

Please log in to view content

To view the content on this page, please log in to your account.