Copyright 2001 Journal of Commerce, Inc.  
Journal of Commerce - JoC Online
May 25, 2001
SECTION: OCEAN TRANSPORTATION and PORTS/INTERMODAL; Pg.WP

LENGTH: 409 words

HEADLINE: U.S. interests call for MSP renewal

BYLINE: BY CHRIS DUPIN - JOC ONLINE

BODY:
A bevy of U.S.-flag shipping interests, including shipowners, unions, shipyards, and lobbying groups, released a letter Friday calling for reauthorization of the Maritime Security Program with the retention of contractual commitments and U.S. citizenship requirements and priorities.The letter was sent to Duncan L. Hunter, chairman of the Merchant Marine Panel of the Committee on Armed Services of the U.S. House of Representatives who last month put a statement in the Congressional Record calling for renewal of MSP.

The MSP provides funding support for U.S.-flag vessels to partially offset the higher costs of operating U.S. ships under U.S. registry and available for immediate use by the Department of Defense during time of war or national emergency. The program expires on September 30, 2005.

The letter reads in part "...the immediate and assured control of U.S.-flag ocean vessels to meet DoD's sealift requirements in times of crisis is directly dependent upon the continued commitments of the American citizen owners and operators, as well as that of U.S. citizen merchant mariners, under existing MSP contracts."

While not mentioned in the letter, Maersk Sealand, which operates 19 of the 47 MSP ships, has been seeking removal of a U.S.-citizenship requirement for companies participating in the MSP program. That has created a storm of controversy in Washington.

The letter was signed by 26 different entities, including most of the major seafaring and longshore unions, major U.S. flag operators, and many trade organizations.

Meanwhile, another member of Congress, Rep. Don Young , R-Alaska, praised Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the owner of the A.P. Moller Group and Maersk Line as "a true friend of the United States of America."

Young noted that Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, a Dane, lived in the U.S. during World War II and supplied many of its 46 ships to the U.S. and its allies during World War II.

Today, 53 of A.P. Moller's ships fly the U.S. flag, Young noted, and Maersk participated in Operation Desert Storm.

Young also called for reauthorization of the MSP and noted that companies that participate in the program are "contractually obligated to the statutorily mandated Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA).

Young called for indexing of the MSP program "to keep abreast of inflation and we should make sure that MSP benefits flow to the U.S. corporate citizen providing VISA assets to our military."

LOAD-DATE: May 28, 2001