Prepared Remarks of
Julie Nelson
Deputy Maritime Administrator
The Tulane Maritime Law Journal’s Annual Banquet
Good evening everyone. Thank you for that gracious introduction and for the opportunity to be with you tonight.
On behalf of President George W. Bush, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters, and all of us at the Maritime Administration . . . congratulations to the Admiralty Law Institute on a highly successful maritime law conference.
Isn’t life great?
Nearly a decade ago I listened to speeches delivered at Tulane never expecting that I would have the privilege of delivering one.
The last time I was here my title was “student.” Since then it has changed to Deputy Administrator for the Maritime Administration and I owe it in part to the excellent education I received at Tulane.
Tonight I would like to speak about the international aspect of the shipping industry and the regulatory framework of maritime economics.
Let me start by quoting what Adam Smith had to say about water transportation in the year our country was born.
“Such therefore are the advantages of water carriage, it is natural that the first improvements of art and industry should be made where this convenience opens the whole world for a market to the produce of every sort of labor.”
Clearly, the State of
But of course there is always concern about the good conduct of ships on our valuable waterways.
Since Adam Smith’s words were spoken, efforts have been underway to standardize national marine transportation laws through international conventions which allows for the continuing growth of international commerce while meeting international safety and environmental concerns.
The regulation of international marine transportation falls under two authorities: the flag state, and the coastal state. The flag state has legal responsibility for the ship in terms of regulating safety, labor laws and commercial matters. The coastal state has limited legal rights over ships sailing in their waters.
As the wider use of flags of convenience has diluted the supervisory role of flag states, coastal states have been playing an increasingly large part in the regularity system, particularly after the 1982 law of the sea convention, which permitted coastal states to legislate for the good conduct of ships in their territorial seas.
The two most significant areas of regulation for coastal states are safety and pollution, which are covered under the IMO SOLAS and MARPOL conventions.
And the maritime industry has done a marvelous job of meeting the regulatory challenges.
For example, under the MARPOL convention and U.S. OPA-90 law, the global tanker fleet needed to be double-hulled by 2010. As of year end 2006, double-hull tankers fleet accounted for 70% of the global fleet, up from 41 percent 5 years earlier, and current orders for new double hull tankers account for about 39 percent of the existing fleet.
If the orders replace existing single hull vessels the world fleet will be essentially double-hulled by year 2008, two years before the deadlines.
The same progress can be seen in the U.S.-owned tank vessel fleets.
Here in
This means that our domestic tanker fleet is well on the way to meeting or beating the OPA-90 deadline.
Those of us who know the maritime industry recognize that
the
Over the last five years the largest upgrades have been in the offshore supply vessel, LNG, high speed ferry and double-hull tank vessel fleets.
There has been a 35 percent increase in the offshore supply vessel fleet with the addition of larger vessels equipped with anchorless mooring systems to service the rapid expansion of deepwater oil exploration in the U.S. Gulf.
On a national scale, the overall growth in the maritime
industry has translated into new employment opportunities with 17,000 new jobs
added over the last five years. Four
thousand of these have been added in
I am convinced that the fleet upgrades, growth in the industry, particularly in the offshore oil service sector, and compliance with national and international framework of regulations will generate a significant number of marine transportation jobs in the legal profession.
I encourage the students in attendance tonight to consider a career in the maritime industry. And here is why:
Martin Stopford, in his book “Maritime Economics” states that “the story of the shipping industry since the first steamships were built has been one of ingenuity, professionalism, fabulous profits and some disastrous miscalculations.” It includes drama and scandals—what more can one ask for?
As for myself, I am elated that I am able to apply my
admiralty law experience at the Maritime Administration. Most particularly, I am pleased to be able to
contribute to strengthening the
Recently, I looked at the Tulane web site and read that
“Tulane law students quickly realize that the
This message was not posted when I attended Tulane, but it was the way I felt when I walked on the azalea and magnolia-lined lawns on my way to the library and lectures.
I thank my instructors, particularly Professor Robert Force who is here tonight for instilling in me a “can do” attitude” which has always allowed me to feel a sense of adventure both inside and outside the classroom.
This sense of adventure has stayed with me and has eventually led me to the Maritime Administration.
And I must say that it’s an exciting time to be at MARAD.
We are making changes and they include conforming the Maritime Administration’s organizations and priorities to those of the industry.
Right now I am working with stakeholders at our biggest
ports:
I also enjoy focusing my energy on clean ship issues that will keep the seaways and coastlines clean for our future mariners and for the benefit of our coming generations.
Waterborne commerce is in my blood.
When I was told by my staff that the cruise industry is
booming and up and running again in
As you might suspect, after receiving the news on the resurgence of people booking a cruise vacation I had great difficulty concentrating on the text I was reading in my agency’s book entitled “Compilation of Maritime Laws” which we update every year since 1995.
It didn’t help to know that the publication is an essential reference to Members of Congress and attorneys practicing in the area of Federal Maritime Law. I believe that many of you in the audience received your free copy and find it as helpful as I do.
I’d like to conclude by stating what surely is obvious to everyone in this audience.
The maritime industry is international in scope in practically every imaginable way. And the same is true for maritime law.
Maritime law touches upon every aspect of the law and employment opportunities can be found internationally as well as at home.
I am delighted to be here tonight in the state where global and domestic opportunities abound and where so many proud chapters of history have been lived through the years.
It’s been a pleasant experience to be with you and I thank you for your kind invitation.
If you have any questions or would care to offer observations of your own, I would be pleased to receive them at this time.
Thank you.
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