Seapower/Maritime

Sea Power, Jan 2002

With recent changes in the U.S. national defense strategy and the downsizing of the U.S. military, greater reliance will be placed on the U.S. port system for the deployment of forces in times of national emergency.

MARAD works with industry and other federal agencies to assist in addressing the critical challenges that lie ahead. Decisive issues confronting U.S. ports include expanding and modernizing facilities, securing improvement funding and financing, improving port security, complying with ever stricter environmental regulations, improving intermodal access, and dredging and disposing of waste.

Many maritime experts expect the nation's waterborne trade to double in the next 20 years. To meet this projected growth, ports must expand their terminal facilities. MARAD administers a program that conveys surplus federal property to state and local public entities for the development and operation of port facilities. The purpose of this program is to create jobs, revitalize local economies, and increase port capacity. Since the program's inception, MARAD has approved five conveyance applications transferring nearly 900 acres of property for port development.

Port Readiness

MARAD is the permanent chair of the National Port Readiness Network (NPRN), a coalition of nine federal agencies and organizations directly responsible for supporting the deployment of military forces through U.S. ports during contingencies and defense emergencies. MARAD and DOD cooperatively determine the status of strategic ports with port planning orders and engage in port terminal facility site planning as well as annual port-- readiness- exercises. MARAD serves as the strategic liaison for commercial port operations during actual national defense emergencies.

CCDoTT

MARAD, in partnership with the U.S. Transportation Command and California State University, Long Beach, manages the Center for the Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies (CCDoTT), which serves as the focal point of an innovative program to demonstrate agile port and high-speed sealift technologies.

The demonstrated technologies, if implemented, will not only help the military deploy quickly but also expand the ability of commercial transportation to accommodate military surge cargo and minimize disruptions to commercial transportation.

Intermodal Transportation Access

The U.S. economy, international competitiveness, and national security all are increasingly dependent on the effectiveness of the intermodal transportation system. Intermodal connections between U.S. transportation modes are typically the weakest links in the national transportation system. As the land-water transportation interface, U.S. ports and terminals are the pivotal links for the movement of U.S. international trade. Approximately 95 percent of America's overseas international trade, measured by volume, passes through U.S. ports. The nation's international waterborne freight is growing at brisk rates as the 10 percent increase in container traffic last year reflects. This unprecedented growth in international freight poses an enormous challenge of ensuring continued and unimpeded access to U.S. ports by both land and sea.