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Shipbuilders Council of America
20 F Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20001
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SCA Weekly Report | June 1 - 5, 2020
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June 5, 2020: 100 Year Anniversary of the Jones Act
Why the Jones Act is Still Needed 100 Years Later
By: Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Maria Cantwell , Rep. Peter DeFazio , and Rep. Sam Graves
One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson enacted a law that would become known as the Jones Act. Its purpose was to help the U.S. shipping industry recover after World War I. Yet few could have predicted how vital it would become to our national security and economic prosperity a full century later — especially during a pandemic. CONTINUE READING
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SCA 2020 Virtual General Membership Meeting
Registration Now Open
The 2020 SCA Virtual General Membership Meeting will be held online on June 17-18, 2020. The meeting will feature speakers from the Department of Defense, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, Maritime Administration and other government officials. This meeting is free for SCA members to attend. We hope you will be able to join us on the 17th and 18th.
Confirmed Speakers:
- Commandant Schultz, USCG
- RDML Anderson
- RDML Ver Hage
- MARAD Administrator Buzby
- House Minority Whip Steve Scalise
- Senator Dan Sullivan
Confirming:
- RADM Schofield, USCG
- RADM Nguyen
Click here to register
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Louisiana Business and Industry Show
The Louisiana Business and Industry Show features high profile business and governmental leaders, critical and real-time information, and informative and leading-edge opinions. View some of the latest episodes below:
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House Appropriators To Begin Markups in July
According to a letter from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House appropriators will start their markup season in late June, about a month and a half later than usual. At the end of June and throughout July, the House will consider appropriations, defense authorization, surface transportation, Affordable Care Act, and Water Resources Development Act legislation, Hoyer’s letter said.
House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) told colleagues this week that appropriators will begin to hold subcommittee and full committee markups on Fiscal 2021 Spending Bills during the weeks of July 6 and July 13, with floor votes as soon as the weeks of July 20 and 27.
HASC Seapower Hears from Experts on Navy Force Structure
The House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee held its first meeting since March on Thursday. During the event, the panel heard from three experts including former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead, naval analyst Bryan Clark, Research Service Analyst Ron O’Rourke who testified on the Navy’s Force Structure. The panel agreed that the Navy and Department of Defense haven’t finished their homework needed to inform how the Navy plans to build its future fleet, making the Congress’ job during the FY21 budget negotiations that much more challenging. The debate in Congress and in the Pentagon on naval power has been pegged on the last assessment of the number of hulls the Navy needs to meet the future requirements – 355. However, the underlying mission of what a newly structured fleet would do is unclear, said the panel addressing the House Armed Service subcommittee on seapower and projection forces. A full video of the hearing can be found HERE.
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DOD Details Spending Plan for $10.5B in COVID-19 Relief Funds
The Defense Department has sent Congress a detailed spending plan for the $10.5 billion it has been provided to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan shows most of the funding - $7.2 billion – has been pegged for DOD’s defense-wide account, while the Navy would be provided $925 million. While much of the funding is being spent on medical care, vaccine research and military readiness, DOD is putting $1 billion toward Defense Production Act purchases, with $688 million going to support the defense industrial base and $312 million to expand COVID-19 medical response. Planned investment also includes $ 150 million for shipbuilding areas such as castings and forgings and submarine launch equipment, including funding to support continuous production of essential components such as launch tubes.
Lord to Testify on COVID-19’s Industrial Base Impact
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord is scheduled to appear before the House Armed Services Committee on June 10 to discuss the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic poses for the U.S. defense industrial base. "The hearing will focus on the department's efforts regarding defense industrial base challenges, contribution to interagency efforts, and use of existing acquisition authorities, including the Defense Production Act, to respond to challenges presented by COVID-19 and meet the department's readiness needs," according to a committee notice. Lord has previously said she expects the pandemic to delay major programs by about three months and require a supplement of "billions and billions" of dollars to reimburse contractors required to remain in a "ready state." At the time, Lord said she hoped the funding could be provided through legislative action, but DOD has yet to submit a request to Congress.
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CRS: Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress
Commerce Department: Calculating the Blue Economy
The United States' so-called blue economy contributed about $373 billion to U.S. GDP in 2018, growing faster than the nation's economy as a whole, according to statistics out of the Commerce Department . The figures, from both NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, are a “first-of-its-kind estimate of the U.S. marine economy, a primary driver of jobs, innovation and economic growth," said retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, deputy NOAA administrator, in a statement. Experts looked at economic performance across 10 sectors representing businesses dependent on the nation's coasts, oceans and Great Lakes between 2014 and 2018 and found that marine-related GDP grew 5.8 percent from 2017 to 2018, faster than the 5.4 percent growth of the total U.S. GDP. Tourism and recreation made the largest contributions to the nation's GDP, with $143 billion, while offshore minerals ranked third at $49 billion. Ship and boat building contributed $19 billion over the same period.
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Atlantic Wind Transfers Secures another CTV Services Contract
Atlantic Wind Transfers has secured its second long-term O&M Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) contract in the U.S. to provide offshore marine support services for the Siemens Gamesa offshore wind turbines to be installed for the first offshore wind project in U.S. federal waters. The project is being developed by Dominion Energy. Atlantic Wind Transfers was selected by Dominion Energy through a competitive bid process. The crew transfer vessel will be based out of Virginia’s Hampton Roads region.
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Jones Act Turns 100
June 5 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920. Within this important legislation is the language that governs America’s waterborne freight cabotage – the Jones Act. Named for the bill’s primary sponsor – U.S. Senator Wesley Jones (R-Washington) – the Jones Act simply states that cargo moved from one domestic port to another domestic port must be carried aboard a U.S.-crewed, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built and U.S.-owned vessel. The Jones Act oversees the movement of goods along America’s ocean shorelines, Great Lakes ports and inland waterways.
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$19B LNG Ship Order a Boon for South Korean Shipbuilders
South Korea’s ailing shipbuilders have been thrown a lifeline in an increasingly tough market with a $19 billion order from Qatar Petroleum (QP) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, analysts said on Tuesday.
Qatar’s state-run LNG producer signed agreements with South Korea’s “Big 3” shipyards on Monday to secure more than 100 ships through 2027, in the largest-ever single LNG vessel order. With a steep market downturn on the horizon, the orders had come at the right time for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co Ltd and Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd , analysts said. The industry has been suffering from a prolonged shipbuilding slump that has led to massive losses, job cuts and a bailout from the government. Lee said market forecasts had indicated a 30% fall in orders this year from a year ago.
China’s New Aircraft Carrier Conducting Sea Trials
China’s newest aircraft carrier, Type 001A Shandong (Hull 17), is conducting sea trials at a time Beijing’s military leadership criticizes the pace and scope of U.S. Navy operations in the region. Shandong departed the Dalian Shipyard on May 25 to test the ship’s weapons and equipment, to train crew members and enhance the carrier’s ability to conduct missions, Senior Col. Ren Guoqiang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, confirmed on Friday during a media briefing. Read more HERE.
Free Face Masks for Maritime Workers Arrive this Week
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Maritime Administration are distributing facial coverings to about 400 maritime transportation entities nationwide for use by essential personnel, including those working at inland ports, major seaports, marine terminals, inland tug and barge lines, vessel pilot groups and dredging operations. The initiative is part of a broader federal campaign to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Cruising Returns with a New Domestic Focus
Several cruise lines are finding innovative ways to resume operations despite the continuing restrictions on international travel due to the coronavirus. As countries have begun to ease restrictions on daily life, people are anxious to resume normal activities including traveling. However, with the limits on international travel, closed borders and ports, and reduced numbers of international flights, normal overseas vacation patterns and especially cruises seem to be just a dream for many people this year. To meet the demand of travelers, and seeking to maintain a portion of the travel industry, several cruise lines have found an innovative solution, creating a new domestic cruise segment focusing on individual countries and local destination. Where ocean cruising is typically known for proving passengers with a broad range of ports across multiple countries, these new cruises reverse that trend marketing locally and focusing on ports of call in an individual country.
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Paula Zorensky on the SCA staff.
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Shipbuilders Council of America | 20 F Street NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001
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