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MARAD
Vision: A maritime system that serves America with American ships and American
labor.
MARAD Mission: As an agency of the U.S.
Department of Transportation, MARAD promotes the development and maintenance of an
adequate, well-balanced United States merchant marine, sufficient to carry the
Nation’s domestic waterborne commerce and a substantial portion of its waterborne
foreign commerce, and capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war
or national emergency.
MARAD
Goals:
National Security: Assure an intermodal sealift capacity to support
vital national security interests.
Shipbuilding: Enhance the competitiveness of the U.S. shipyard
industry.
Intermodalism: Improve intermodal transportation system performance
by applying advanced technology and innovation.
Trade: Increase the U.S. maritime industry’s participation in
foreign trade, and cargo and passenger movement in the domestic trades.
Some of MARAD’s Exciting
Programs & Initiatives
Marine Transportation
System – MTS. MARAD is one of
17 agencies participating in the MTS initiative, which seeks to ensure a safe and
environmentally sound world-class marine transportation system to improve the global
competitiveness and national security of the United States.
Maritime Security Program -
MSP. MARAD serves to maintain an
active, privately owned, U.S.-flag, and U.S.-crewed liner fleet in international trade.
This fleet is also available to support Department of Defense sustainment in a
contingency.
Voluntary Intermodal
Sealift Agreement – VISA . This program provides the Department of Defense with
assured access to commercial intermodal capacity to move ammunition and sustainment cargo.
More than 75 percent of the U.S.-flag, militarily useful, commercial dry cargo shipping
capacity is enrolled in VISA.
National Defense Reserve
Fleet – NDRF. MARAD maintains the NDRF as a source of vessels that can be
activated to meet the shipping requirements of the United States during national
emergencies.
Ready Reserve Force –
RRF . A component of the NDRF, this force is comprised of ships that are kept in a
heightened state of readiness and can be activated within 4, 5, 10, 20, or 30 days to meet
surge military sealift requirements in the event of war or military deployment.
Cargo Preference . Cargo
preference is the reservation, by law, for transportation on U.S.-flag vessels, of all or
a portion of all oceanborne cargo which moves in international trade either as a direct
result of the Federal Government’s involvement or indirectly because of the financial
sponsorship of a Federal program or guarantee provided by the Federal Government.
MARAD’s responsibilities include the proper application of certain U.S.-cargo
preference laws.
Title XI Financing. Provides for a full faith and credit guarantee by
the U.S. Government of debt obligations issued by U.S. or foreign shipowners for the
purpose of financing or refinancing either U.S.-flag vessels or eligible export vessels
constructed, reconstructed, or reconditioned in U.S. shipyards, and U.S. shipyards for the
purpose of financing advanced shipbuilding technology and modern shipbuilding technology
of a privately owned general shipyard facility located in the United States. In 2002,
Title XI applications totaling $225 million in loan guarantees were approved for projects
covering construction of 22 vessels.
National Maritime Resource
and Education Center – NMREC. MARAD established the center to serve as the
Government’s commercial shipbuilding advocate to assist U.S. shipbuilding and allied
industries in improving their competitiveness in the international commercial market.
NMREC promotes elimination of unnecessary regulations, encourages development and use of
consensus technical standards for the maritime industry, and supports U.S. participation
in national and international standards-writing organization.
U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy – USMMA. MARAD operates the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point,
New York, to educate young men and women for service in the American merchant marine, in
the U.S. armed forces, and in the Nation’s intermodal transportation system.
State Maritime Academies. MARAD provides
financial assistance to six State maritime academies to train merchant marine officers
pursuant to the Maritime Education and Training Act of 1980.
Port, Intermodal, and
Environmental Activities. MARAD
promotes and provides technical assistance to ensure that U.S. waterways, ports, and
intermodal connections are able to compete in the global economy of the 21st Century.
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