REMARKS AS PREPARED BY

MARITIME ADMINISTRATOR REAR ADM. (RET) ANN PHILLIPS

AT Navy League of the U.S. Sea-Air-Space Service Chiefs Panel 

THANKS to the NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES, and thank you to my shipmates here: 

Mr. Rose for moderating this panel today; 

Under Secretary RAVEN; 

CNO Mike GILDAY; 

Marine Corps Commandant David BERGER; and 

Coast Guard Commandant Linda FAGAN. 

On behalf of the Maritime Administration and the Department of Transportation, I am honored to join you! 

MARAD’s mission is to foster, promote, and develop the maritime industry of the United States to meet the nation’s economic and security needs.   

At MARAD, our team is meeting what are truly historic moments in our nation’s maritime history.  

PEOPLE AND SAFETY 

Let me cover three key areas of our work, and I will begin by discussing our work supporting mariners. 

Our merchant marine is as vital to our national security and economic success as it has ever been.  However, in 2017, MARAD estimated that we are approximately 1,800 mariners short of the number needed in the event of a full mobilization exceeding 4-6 months. In an uncontested environment.   

We are working a whole-of-government-and-stakeholder approach to Recruit, Train, Retain, and Reduce Barriers to entering a maritime career. 

We are making critical investments to address the urgent and long-standing infrastructure and cultural challenges at the Merchant Marine Academy, which is the primary source of mariners with service obligations. 

We are building ships again!   

With speed and on-time accuracy, a (process) playbook we intend to repeat in the near future.  We are currently building five new National Security Multi-mission Vessels in Philadelphia’s shipyard, and along with the 1400 2,000 plus jobs created, these ships will provide state-of-the-art training platforms for the six state maritime academies we support. I note that the first ship—the EMPIRE STATE—will be delivered in June! 

And we are working in close partnership with the Coast Guard to combat sexual assault and sexual harassment on board commercial vessels. 

MARAD established the EMBARC (Every Mariner Builds A Respectful Culture) program in December 2021 to help prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment, to support survivors, strengthen a culture of accountability, and improve safety for Merchant Marine Academy cadets and for all mariners.   

Now, thanks to Congress’ support, the FY 2023 NDAA requires commercially operated vessels, by law, to comply with these standards before they can train cadets—and this will also help improve safety throughout the industry. 

STRENGTHENING SEALIFT FOR ECONOMIC & NATIONAL SECURITY 

Another key mission at MARAD is serving as the provider of all surge sealift capacity—but we are challenged to meet USTRANSCOM’s requirements. 

The 45 vessels in our Ready Reserve Force have an average age of more than 45 years and it is increasingly difficult to maintain them. 

We are working to implement recapitalization of the RRF as quickly as we can. 

In March 2022, we purchased two former MSP ships, adding more than 316,000 square feet of military cargo capacity.  Three more commercial ships will be purchased and placed under MARAD ownership starting in April.   

These are critical steps—but I must tell you that at this pace, we will continue to have the challenge of managing an old fleet for many years. 

Of course, our government-owned sealift fleet is supported and leveraged by a fleet of privately owned, commercially operated U.S.-flag vessels. 

We administer the programs that support the 60-ship Maritime Security Program as well as the 2 Ship Cable Ship Security Program.   

We are also working to grow our U.S.-flagged fleet by creating the new Tanker Security Program to meet DOD mission requirements.  We issued the interim final rule creating the program late last year—and we expect to announce the first 10 vessel enrollments shortly. 

MARAD’S STRONG ECONOMIC AND CLIMATE SUSTAINABILITY INVESTMENTS  

Finally, let me talk about the historic investments in port infrastructure—and supply chain resiliency—made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).   

Under the BIL, the Port Infrastructure Development Program that MARAD administers received an infusion of $2.25 billion. 

Last year, thanks to the BIL funding and additional appropriations, we were able to award more than $700 million in PIDP grants to 41 projects in 22 states and one territory.  

And get this: more than 60 percent of the PIDP awards made in 2022 benefit ports in historically disadvantaged communities.  More than $150 million of the funding awarded last year focuses on port electrification to improve air quality, and nearly $100 million went to help ports that are supporting offshore wind developments. 

Also, on average, 25% of PIDP funds awarded each year go to DOD Designated Strategic Sealift Ports ensuring improvements to support the movement of goods through those facilities. 

This year, we have more than $662 million in Federal funding available through the PIDP program—and our Notice of Funding Opportunity is out now.  Applications are due April 28, 2023! 

CONCLUSION 

Thank you for the opportunity to join you and I look forward to our discussion!

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