Maritime Administrator: the Jones Act Moves Industry and America's Economic Prosperity
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Organized 1885 Official Organ of the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific Volume LXXVII No. 10 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Friday, October 24, 2014 No concensus on how to Maritime Administrator: The fix LA-Long Beach ports Jones Act moves industry and epresentatives of the port, shipper and labor communities agree that Los Angeles and Long Beach must reduce con- Rgestion and improve productivity at marine terminals, but America’s economic prosperity they differ on how to reach those goals. he following commentary requires that any cargoes being well as 200 shipyards currently “We are three to five days behind our normal flow of goods. This was posted October 9 by shipped by water between U.S. engaged in vessel maintenance is having a ripple effect throughout the supply chain,” Jon Slangerup, Maritime Administrator ports be transported on a ves- and repair. Additionally, our Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, said October 15. T Paul “Chip” Jaenichen on the sel owned by a U.S. company, domestic shipbuilding industry Marine terminal congestion has been a nagging problem all year at Department of Transportation’s crewed by U.S. mariners, and continues to modernize and the largest U.S. port complex, but cargo interests say the problem is Fast Lane blog: manufactured in a U.S. shipyard. maintain Federal vessels for the approaching a crisis stage during the current peak shipping season. “Our very first Congress sin- That U.S. shipbuilding require- Navy, Coast Guard, and National Slangerup said the chronic congestion and peak-season crisis has gled out the domestic U.S. Mer- ment has stimulated investment Oceanographic and Atmospheric been a “wake-up call” that should motivate all participants in the chant Marine as essential to our in the privately-owned U.S. Administration. In total, all of supply chain to do what they can to reduce congestion and improve economy and national defense. companies that run shipyards this activity combined contrib- productivity. “The reality is, the system has a lot of bottlenecks,” he That is why, from the beginnings and operate the vessels that em- utes more than $36 billion to our said. The system is not broken but is stretched and stressed, and each of this nation, they took steps to ploy the best-trained crews and national economy. stakeholder can help to fix the system by addressing those functions secure the U.S. Merchant Marine merchant mariners in the world. That’s why this Administra- over which it has control, Slangerup said. fleet from foreign flag compe- So much so, employment oppor- tion has invested more than $150 For example, the ports have struggled following the decision by tition in coastwise domestic tunities for mariners to crew our million to increase the compet- most ocean carriers to quit providing chassis to their customers. maritime trade. U.S.-flagged fleet are vast. itiveness and efficiency of U.S. The carriers sold those assets to the big three leasing companies, Senator Wesley L. Jones spon- For example, supply boats, shipyards through MarAd’s TRAC Intermodal, Flexi-Van and DCLI. The result has been a severe sored the Merchant Marine Act tankers and tank barges are in Small Shipyard Grant program. dislocation of chassis –equipment not where it is needed– that is of 1920 –better known now as high demand to move shale oil We know that increased pro- adding to other productivity issues and elevating port congestion. the Jones Act. For 94 years, that –a new, abundant cargo source– duction at our shipyards means Long Beach port officials say chassis shortages and dislocations law has remained the cornerstone between American coastwise good, middle-class jobs for are the root cause of the ports’ congestion problem. The harbor of U.S. maritime policy, a policy ports. As a result, U.S. shipyards Americans who not only build, commission is addressing this weak link in the supply chain with that was the center of discus- are experiencing the greatest vol- but also operate these vessels. a 30-day study that could result in the port authority buying thou- sion at yesterday’s 2nd Annual ume of shipbuilding activity in The United States became a sands of chassis and establishing an entity to manage and deploy TradeWinds Jones Act Forum. more than three decades. Today, maritime power even before we the equipment for use during peak shipping periods. “The Port of There, I joined maritime in- there are over 30 large, self-pro- became a nation, and for over Long Beach is taking an active position by becoming an operating dustry experts and stakeholders pelled, ocean-going Jones Act 230 years, marine transportation port for chassis,” Slangerup said. in recognizing that, while some eligible tankers, articulated tug- has remained a top priority for Port congestion is making huge demands on the supply of labor sectors of America’s economy barge units and container ships the United States. For this rea- as terminal operators must hire more longshoremen each day to have seen operations and jobs either under construction or on son, this Administration remains handle a cargo volume that is only slightly higher than it was a year shift to countries abroad, this order at U.S. shipyards. committed to the Jones Act, as ago. According to the Pacific Maritime Association, man-hours in hasn’t been the case for our The demand for Jones Act all administrations have since it Los Angeles-Long Beach for the four-week period ending October maritime industry. vessels is supporting 117 ship- was passed.” 3 were up 25% from the corresponding period last year. Instead, the Jones Act, which yards actively building ships as Bobby Olvera, President of International Longshore and Ware- house Union Local 13, said this indicates it’s time to expand the Seattle & Tacoma ports forge “Seaport Alliance” dockworker force and train more he ports of Seattle and TransPacific trades. The alliance half of 2014 to 11.8%. part-time workers, known as ca- Tacoma are taking a bold is also aimed at allowing the Pa- “We will leverage our strengths suals. The last time the longshore Tstep to improve the com- cific Northwest to better compete to bring a value proposition for rolls in Southern California were petitiveness of the Pacific North- as a region with other U.S. and attracting discretionary cargo,” expanded was seven years ago, west gateway by unifying the Canadian ports for market share. said John Wolfe, CEO of the Port he said. planning, marketing and man- The ports of Seattle and Ta- of Tacoma. On the other hand, Slangerup said systems and agement of their marine cargo coma’s combined market share each port will maintain its own processes must be improved terminals and related functions of North American West Coast commission, its own governance so the transportation commu- under a single body. container traffic in the first half structure and its ownership of nity can work smarter. He said If the Seaport Alliance is ap- of 2014 was 11.0%, down from assets. “This is an alliance of PierPass Inc., the organization proved by the U.S. Federal Mar- 11.7% in the first half of 2013 and the two ports, not a merger,” established by terminal opera- itime Commission (FMC), the 11.9% in the first half of 2012, said Claire Petrich, president of tors in Southern California to ports, which have a long history according to data collected by the Port of Tacoma Commission. administer a program of extend- of competing with each other the Journal of Commerce from The container shipping in- ed-hours at gates, is a data-rich for market share, will instead be the individual ports. Ports in dustry in recent years has expe- Periodicals’ postage paid at San Francisco, CA (USPS 675-180) postage paid at San Francisco, CA Periodicals’ organization that provides a working together to develop or the Pacific Northwest, including rienced an upheaval generated foundation for improvement of redevelop state-of-the art marine Tacoma, Seattle and Portland, to- by carriers joining together in terminal processes. “I see a Pier- terminals. The pressure is on gether saw market share of North vessel-sharing alliances, and at Pass 2.0 providing an integration both ports to ready their facil- American West Coast container the same time embarking upon of systems,” he said. ities for the latest generation of traffic decline 0.7 percentage an unprecedented buying spree container ships operating in the points year-over-year in the first continued on page 3 continued on page 4 ESU News: Pages 8 & 9 AFL-CIO Election Endorsements: Pages 15 & 16 Page 2 WEST COAST SAILORS Friday, October 24, 2014 Knud “Andy” Andersen crosses the bar E Pictured above are from left: Cook Erick Weiss, Operators Adian Minty, Mike Sposeto, Jeff Knight and Ray Reed. The Burial At Sea certificate (left) was signed by: Mark Hargus, Erick Weiss, Mike Sposeto and Adian Minty, with the ashes of Andy. On coffee lovers and livers Drinking coffee, even decaffeinated coffee, may protect your liver, a large new study has found. Researchers examined the coffee-drinking habits of 27,793 people who filled out diet questionnaires in a large national health study from 1999 to 2010. The scientists also tracked blood levels of four enzymes that indicate liver function. The study is online in Hepatology. More than 14,000 of the subjects drank coffee. After controlling for age, sex, race, education, smoking, alcohol consumption and other factors, the researchers found that compared with people who drank no coffee, those who drank three cups a day were about 25% less likely to have abnormal liver enzyme levels.