All Hands On Deck!

May 2nd, 2025:Building the U.S. into a Maritime Powerhouse. The domestic maritime industry never received so much interest in the United States as in the last few months. It seems that a new piece of legislation is being introduced every week. Last week, in our Opinion piece about the USTR (“Make America Build Ships Again?”), we referenced a new piece of bipartisan (i.e. supported by both Republicans and Democrats) legislation that was expected to be reintroduced in Congress this week. This did indeed happen on Wednesday, April 30th. The act is called the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act. The sponsors of the bill want to enhance U.S. competitiveness and substantially increase investments in the maritime workforce. One of their aims is to expand the U.S. built, U.S. Flag fleet by 250 vessels in 10 years. This is a very ambitious goal. At the moment, only about 80 oceangoing ships fly the American flag in international commerce. In this Tanker Opinion, we will discuss some of the individual components of the proposed legislation, how it interacts with existing laws, such as the Jones Act and previously announced initiatives, such as the USTR measures proposed on April 17 and President Trump’s Executive Order of April 9 (“Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance”). Please fill in below form to continue read.