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SCA Weekly Report | July 17-21, 2023
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PRESIDENT BIDEN JONES ACT REMARKS
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CLICK HERE to watch the video of President Biden's statement on the Jones Act and domestic shipbuilding
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2023 SCA Fall Meeting Registration Now Open
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The SCA Fall General Membership Meeting will take place October 11-12, 2023 at the Sheraton Portland Sable Oaks.
As part of the event, GD Bath Iron Works has generously offered a tour of their shipyard to our group. Please note that security information will be required to attend the tour.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, October 11
- 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM: INDUSTRY PARTNERS COMMITTEE MEETING
- Open Session: 11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON
- Closed session: 12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM (Industry Partners Committee Members Only)
- 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS (Board Members Only)
- 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM: BOARD MEETING (Board Members Only)
- 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM: WELCOMING RECEPTION & EXHIBITS REVIEW (All attendees welcome)
- Sponsored by the American Equity Underwriters
Thursday, October 12
All attendees welcome
- 6:45 AM - 7:30 AM: BREAKFAST
- 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM: SHIPYARD TOUR OF GD BATH IRON WORKS
- 12:00 NOON: LUNCH
- 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM: SCA STAFF PRESENTATIONS
- 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM: GUEST SPEAKER SESSION
- 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM: GENERAL MEMBERSHIP RECEPTION & EXHIBITS REVIEW
- Sponsored by Signal Mutual
- 7:00PM - 8:30 PM: MEMBERSHIP DINNER
HOTEL ROOM BLOCK
SCA has secured a room rate of $199 per night at the Sheraton Portland Sable Oaks. Reserve your room HERE.
EXHIBITION HALL
The exhibition hall encourages greater interaction between SCA shipyard and partner members, offering the opportunity for members to demonstrate their product or services directly to potential customers.
If you are interested in exhibiting at this event, please review the Exhibitor Packet HERE.
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Proposed EDA Transfer: Vessel Components to Dominican Republic
The Defense Logistics Agency is proposing the blanket order transfer of vessel components to the Dominican Republic under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. The vessels that may be supported include the Point-class cutter and various classes of patrol boats.
The document HERE, provides the full list of blanket order categories, the FSC codes, and the Dominican Republic’s spending limit within each category ($8,371.22).
Please respond to Lee Ann Carpenter by July 27th with and concerns.
Lee Ann Carpenter
Bureau of Industry & Security
US Department of Commerce
202-482-2583
LeeAnn.Carpenter@bis.doc.gov
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OSHA Safe + Sound Week Registration is Open
Registration for Safe + Sound Week 2023 (August 7-13, 2023) is now open at osha.gov/safeandsoundweek. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America's workers safe. This year Safe + Sound Week will provide resources for businesses on mental health and well-being. These materials will be posted before the start of Safe + Sound Week.
For more information on Safe + Sound Week 2023 and to sign-up, CLICK HERE.
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Save the Dates: Upcoming SCA Meetings
2023 SCA Fall General Membership Meeting: October 11-12, 2023 | Portland, Maine
2024 SCA Winter General Membership Meeting: February 7-8, 2024 | Coral Gables, Florida
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Senate Continues to Consider FY24 NDAA
The Senate left town on Thursday after churning through more amendments to its Pentagon policy bill, with the aim of passing the package next week before Congress departs for its summer recess. Senators adopted eight uncontroversial proposals, including an amendment from Senator Baldwin intended to “enhance domestic content requirement for navy shipbuilding programs” and rejected a separate amendment to limit Ukraine aid on Thursday. Next week will see more NDAA votes.
Senate Appropriators Agree to Add $13.7 Billion to FY24 Spending Caps
Top Senate appropriators will pad out their fiscal 2024 spending bills with nearly $14 billion in additional emergency spending, with more than half of that total boosting the Pentagon’s budget. The extra emergency cash comes amid bipartisan concerns that the overall budget totals set by the debt ceiling deal would shortchange federal agencies for the coming fiscal year. In a joint statement, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and ranking Republican Susan Collins of Maine (R-ME)acknowledged their colleagues’ concerns. In addition to tens of billions of dollars in funding adjustments outlined by the debt deal, they said, the upper chamber will deploy the use of emergency money “just as we do every year … as appropriate, to address in a bipartisan fashion some of the pressing challenges our nation faces.”
About $8 billion will go toward increasing the Pentagon’s fiscal 2024 budget, while the Homeland Security and Labor-HHS-Education measures will each receive an extra $2 billion. The State-Foreign Operations bill will see about $1.4 billion. The remaining funds would be spread across Commerce-Justice-Science accounts. The $14 billion total doesn’t include a broader deal on Ukraine aid or disaster relief. Both Republicans and Democrats have pledged to pursue more emergency funding to help the country continue fending off Russian aggression.
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Biden's Pick for Top Navy Leader Would be First Female Joint Chiefs Member
President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, which would make her the first woman to serve as a member of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff if she is confirmed. Franchetti would replace Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, whose four-term year ends this fall.
But Franchetti will quickly join a nomination logjam in the Senate, as Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) is single-handedly blocking more than 270 military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. With no obvious resolution to the blockade in sight, top nominations are stacking up. The Senate Armed Services Committee this week sent the nominee for Army chief, Gen. Randy George, and for Joint Chiefs chair, Gen. C.Q. Brown, to the full Senate for consideration. The head of the Marine Corps, Gen. David Berger, has already retired, leaving Assistant Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith as the temporary chief until he is confirmed as commandant.
The Senate is set to recess at the end of next week for a month, leaving virtually no time for her confirmation process to play out before Gilday steps down next month, assuring a gap atop Navy leadership that Franchetti will fill on an acting basis.
DOD Limits Auxiliary Ship Engine Purchases to Five-Nation Industrial Base
As outlined in a final Department of Defense rule issued Thursday, Navy auxiliary ship engines must be made in countries that are part of a five-nation industrial and technology base. The large medium-speed diesel engines for new auxiliary ships must be manufactured in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, as defined under Title 10 of the U.S. Code. Auxiliary ships support combatant ships and other naval operations, but do not include icebreakers or special mission vessels.
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Biden at Philly Shipyard Touts Offshore Wind Progress
President Biden participated in a steel-cutting ceremony at Philly Shipyard Thursday, marking the construction of the first U.S.-flag subsea rock installation vessel on the same day the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it will offer the first Gulf of Mexico offshore wind leases in late August.
Biden’s visit to Philadelphia was aimed at Democratic alliances with labor, a key element to offshore wind power plans by the administration and Northeast and Mid-Atlantic state governments. The shipyard event centered on the Acadia, which will be the first U.S.-built subsea rock installation vessel (SRI) for offshore wind. The $246 million vessel is being built for the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Corporation based in Houston, Texas, a longtime major player in harbor and beach replenishment work. The Acadia project is GLDD’s move into the offshore wind sector, providing a Jones Act-compliant vessel to lay down rock protection around turbine towers, cable routes and other offshore structures.
First Ever US Gulf Offshore Wind Lease Sale Set for August
Yesterday, the Department of the Interior announced that it will hold the first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico on August 29. The areas to be auctioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management have the potential to generate approximately 3.7 GW and power almost 1.3 million homes with clean, renewable energy, the Interior Department said.
“The Gulf of Mexico is poised to play a key role in our nation’s transition to a clean energy future,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “Today’s announcement follows years of engagement with government agencies, states, ocean users, and stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico region. We look forward to continued collaboration in the years to come.”
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Philly Shipyard Awarded Contract for Navy Hospital Ship Design Study
Philly Shipyard Inc. recently announced it was awarded a contract to conduct the T-AH(X) hospital ship feasibility study for Gibbs & Cox. The six-month design study will cover a solution for preliminary designs to replace the two current hospital ships – USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort – owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by Military Sealift Command (MSC). Philly Shipyard will subcontract to Vard Marine Inc. (“VARD”) to provide engineering and technical services for this effort.
Moran Towing to Build Two Ship-Assist Tugs at Master Boat
Moran Towing Corp. recently announced that it awarded a contract to Master Boat Builders Inc. to build a pair of 92'x40' escort tugs. The tugs will be delivered by mid-2025.
"We are excited to continue our partnership with Moran on the design and construction of these two new Robert Allan designed tugs," said Garrett Rice, president of Master Boat. "Moran is one of the most well-respected towing companies in the world, and we are honored to partner with them again."
This next class of tugs will be among the largest in the Moran tug fleet and will bring more power to accommodate the larger, deeper draft vessels coming into ports along the U.S. Gulf and East Coast, Moran said.
Jones Act Shipping Company Rose Cay Maritime Forges Green Methanol Partnership with US Producer
US-based green methanol producer Carbon Sink and Rose Cay Maritime, a Jones Act shipping company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to help increase green methanol production, transportation, bunkering, and storage for the shipping sector. The collaboration will provide a cost-effective, streamlined supply chain for Carbon Sink’s large-scale green methanol projects in the U.S. to meet the growing demand for decarbonization in the maritime industry. Rose Cay Maritime is relatively new to the Jones Act market, having started in 2021 after purchasing eight tug and barge units from Bouchard Transportation.
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If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the SCA staff.
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