Copyright 2001 Singapore Press Holdings Limited The
Business Times Singapore
October 4, 2001, Thursday
SECTION: Pg. SHIP1
LENGTH: 522
words
HEADLINE: Defence plan in which commercial
ships take part
BODY: THE Maritime
Security Program (MSP) is a US defence programme aimed at ensuring a continuing
presence of a viable US-flagged merchant marine fleet in international
commercial shipping and to ensure it is available for military use in case of
war or national emergency.
A product of the Maritime Security Act signed into law by former president Bill
Clinton in 1996, the MSP makes the ships and crew as well as intermodal
transport and communication network of the ship operator available to the US
Department of Defence upon request. The programme has not been activated to
date.
There are three categories of sealift vessel:
dedicated Department of Defence sealift ships; standby reserve ships operated by
the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (Marad); and
US-flagged merchant ships. Through the Maritime Security Program (MSP) the US
government contracts with commercial shipowners of containerships, conventional
dry cargo vessels and ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) vehicle carriers, for service
when needed.
Nearly US$100 million in annual funding is
set aside for subsidies to the shipping lines at US$2.1 million per ship, to
partially offset the higher operating costs of keeping their vessels in the US
flag registry.
In return for these subsidies, carriers
must commit 100 per cent of the capacity of these vessels and other
transportation resources to the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (Visa),
the emergency preparedness programme jointly run by the departments of defence
and transportation.
Speaking of APL's involvement in
transporting cargo to US forces during the 1991 Operation Desert Storm/Shield,
NOL spokeswoman Sarah Lockie said: "Many of the complex issues that we faced in
providing the appropriate level of support to the alliance partners during the
Iraq war had not been worked out in advance. The Visa programme is designed to
deal with those issues before the fact, which also assists us greatly in
minimising the impact on our commercial customers."
According to Marad: "These ships would carry cargo such as ammunition,
tanks, military equipment, vehicles, spare parts and food needed to sustain the
deployment of American armed forces."
Currently there
are 47 vessels from 10 shipping lines with a total capacity equivalent to
118,000 TEUs (20-ft container), including eight ro-ro vessels. If requested,
shipping lines are compensated at commercial rates, according to Marad.
The Visa programme is divided into three stages with the
first two stages designed to provide intermodal capacity for a single-theatre
war while stage three provides additional lift for unforecasted requirements.
Other commercial US flag operators can volunteer ad hoc
capacity in Visa stages one and two, but in stage three, participants must
commit at least 50 per cent of their capacities. Currently there are an
estimated 55 operators with 114 ocean-going ships and 397 other vessels
including tugs and barges, enrolled in the Visa programme.
All Visa participants are given priority for the peacetime award of
defence department contracts for cargo carriage.
