Sea Power - July/August 2015

The Maritime Administration, Jaenichen said, is in
the process of crafting a national maritime strategy that
has been informed by several stakeholders, including
interagency partners, other federal government depart-
ments, industry and the Navy League. He called it an
“action document” with strategic initiatives that “out-
line specific actions that will include corporate insur-
ance, tax and investment reforms, as well as regulatory
policies measures. Actions that will increase the com-
petitiveness of the U.S.-flag fleet, facilitate improve-
ments, and ensure the financing and ship orders and
repair activity in U.S. shipyards, and uphold and boost
federal support of American recruiting, education and
Coast Guard licensing.”
He then drew parallels between this strategy, the
Navy League’s 2015 Maritime Policy and the
Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Sea Power that
was signed by the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

“First, the Cooperative Strategy highlights the
necessity of expanding our naval presence especially in
the Asia-Pacific and, also, in the Arctic. Today, over 90
percent of all military logistics require strategic access
to America’s sea ports and, obviously, expanding global
naval presence will increase the demand on those
ports,” he said. “The national maritime strategy works
to ensure that those ports are ready for that activity, but
more importantly, for the commercial freight that we
know is going to come as the growth of the population
expands over the next 45 years.

“The second connection,” the administrator said,
“is where the Navy League’s Maritime Policy calls for a
fully funded Navy shipbuilding plan. This will require
a thriving domestic shipbuilding base, and our nation-
al maritime strategy will support that. … That strategy
will tee up measures that will maintain and expand
federal financing programs for shipbuilding and incen-
tives for tax reforms to provide renovation, but more
importantly, to lean forward on those environmental
safety designs.”
The three documents also stress “the absolute
necessity for retaining trained personnel” and
acknowledge today’s budget reality does not bode well
for many of the programs that affect the sea services. It
means it is time to act quickly and focus on the most
effective expenditures to make sure that sustainable
solutions are achieved, he said.

Jaenichen said the commonalities between these documents “means that we’re all on the same page and that the Maritime Administration has the right approach to developing its national maritime strategy.”

Among the challenges for the U.S.-flag fleet are the dramatic decline in the number of U.S.-flag vessels operating in international trade and the increased U.S. reliance on foreign-flag vessels and maritime services.

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG 70 SEAPOWER / JULY/AUGUST 2015 Witunski joins plankowners of the 13th U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter, Richard Dixon, following a dinner in their honor June 19 prior to its commissioning. Witunski also chaired the Commissioning Committee.