REMARKS AS PREPARED BY

MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR REAR ADM. (RET) ANN PHILLIPS

AT EMBARC Training Day – USMMA 

Admiral Nunan, Midshipmen, Faculty, and Staff—thank you for your attention to today’s events. 

 Today, we will discuss the measures that MARAD and the Academy are jointly implementing to improve safety at sea for all of you—and indeed for all mariners. 

 In addition to experts from the Academy and the Maritime Administration, as Captain Kutkiewicz explained, we are honored to be joined by several guests from the Coast Guard and I would like to introduce them now. 

 Rear Admiral Wayne Arguin is the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy.  Admiral Arguin sets our nation’s policies regarding safety at sea and he exercises our flag state control.   

Mr. Jeremy Gauthier is the Director of the Coast Guard Investigative Service. 

Captain Jason Neubauer is the Chief of the Coast Guard’s Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis. 

And Ms. Mayte Medina is Chief of the Coast Guard’s of Merchant Mariner Credentials—and a Merchant Marine Academy graduate. 

 You may not know these individuals, but they are absolutely critical to this Academy and to our merchant marine. They believed that today’s events are important enough that their attendance—in person—was essential, and we thank them for their leadership and partnership. 

 I encourage you to ask questions—whether during today’s events or privately after the events are over—and we welcome your suggestions and recommendations.  In fact, many of the policies and programs we will discuss today were suggested by Midshipmen, faculty, and staff here at the Academy.   

 I say this directly to the Midshipmen.  Your safety is our highest priority—and I expect every single person here at the Academy and throughout MARAD to prioritize your safety above all other considerations.  

 While much work lies ahead, the past year has been a time of tremendous change—here at the Academy and throughout the industry—and I want to review how we arrived where we are today. 

 In November 2021, as many of you experienced first-hand, we paused at-sea training so that we could develop and implement new policies and procedures to help prevent sexual assault and harassment, support survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable.   

 We introduced the “Every Mariner Builds a Respectful Culture”—or EMBARC—program on December 15, 2021.   

 I want to be clear that the creation and implementation of the EMBARC program has been essential to continuing Sea Year training on board U.S.-flagged commercial vessels.  EMBARC was created in recognition of the unique value of commercial Sea Year training, and it is geared toward enhancing this important learning experience.  

 I also believe that EMBARC will ultimately improve safety for all mariners by kickstarting culture change throughout the industry and spurring the growth of a more diverse and equitable U.S. merchant marine.    

 A week after we introduced EMBARC, we issued new policies and procedures to govern Sea Year.  For example—as recommended by Midshipmen—we now require that every cadet receive a satellite phone before they go to sea.   

We also expanded the amnesty policy.  Under this amnesty policy—which applies both at sea and here on campus—you can report incidents of sexual harassment or assault without facing discipline for collateral misconduct, such as drinking alcohol. 

With these new policies and procedures in place, we resumed the Sea Year late in 2021.   

Today, a year later, there are 14 commercial carriers operating more than 130 vessels enrolled in EMBARC and several additional applications are pending.   

And now, Congress has passed—and the President has signed—the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023, which includes numerous provisions geared toward better protecting you.  While there is a lot in the new bill, as it relates to today’s activities, I want to highlight for you some of the significant changes the bill has made in law.   

 First, with the enactment of the Defense Authorization Act, if a carrier wants to train one of you during your Sea Year, by law, the carrier must have complied with EMBARC. 

 In addition, some of you may be familiar with MARAD’s Maritime Security, Tanker Security and Cable Security Fleet programs, which provide Federal support to vessels that sail under the U.S. flag and agree to move military cargoes whenever the military needs them.   

 Whereas previously, operators enrolled in one of these programs could determine whether they would enroll in EMBARC, NOW, BY LAW, those operators must comply with EMBARC as a requirement of receiving funding from the Federal government and they must make their ships available to carry Academy Midshipmen. 

 The National Defense Authorization Act also includes new provisions geared toward improving safety and quality of life here at the Academy.  For example, the Act requires the Academy to: 

 Create a Midshipman-staffed advisory board empowered with the authority to identify directly to me any health and well-being, diversity, and SASH challenges at the USMMA; 

Establish a new Sexual Assault Advisory Council to help improve the way SASH issues are addressed here at the Academy; and 

Require the issuance of a student support plan to address mental health resources available to all of you should you need them. 

 And these are just some of the provisions in the law.  There are also new requirements for vessel owners and operators that the Coast Guard will briefly describe to you later today.  I note that some of these requirements apply to vessels regardless of whether or not they ever train a cadet. 

 In sharing this with you, my hope is that you will see that YOU have the attention of leadership all the way from the Academy to MARAD to the Department of Transportation to the President.  Your experiences matter, your safety matters, and we all take our responsibility toward you seriously. 

 To manage the EMBARC program, MARAD has created the Office of Cadet Training At-Sea Safety (OCTAS), which Captain Kutkiewicz leads within the office of Dr. Sashi Kumar, our Deputy Associate Administrator. 

 Part of our EMBARC policy requires us to meet regularly with enrolled carriers as he discussed.  Our first meeting with stakeholders in 2023 is being held here, this afternoon.   

 Because of some technology challenges, you all will watch the meeting on Zoom from your rooms.  Please know we do recognize the importance of tackling these technology issues and are working on them!  

 During the meeting you will see and hear from leaders from both MARAD and Coast Guard discuss ongoing implementation of EMBARC with industry and labor.   

 We hold these meetings on a quarterly basis because it is critical that we look closely at how EMBARC implementation is progressing and that we address issues whenever they arise so we can continue to strengthen the EMBARC program.   

 In fact, we are holding this quarterly meeting here at the Academy today precisely because at the last quarterly meeting, several folks recommended that it would be good to meet at the Academy so you all can be informed about how this process works. 

 Finally, while I know that laws alone cannot change culture, I am confident that culture across the industry is changing—and I am certain that you are and will continue to be a key part of that change. 

 Our merchant marine is essential to our national security and our economic security, but our merchant marine must reflect the diversity of the nation it serves, and it must be a place where every American of every gender, race, color, and creed is respected, valued, and SAFE. 

 With that, I look forward to the presentations we will hear today.

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