Great explainer of this extremely nuanced & important topic. It's crazy how much chaos US policy makers are causing for themselves & shipping companies!!
Hey Sam, I was in the Army in the 80s, responsible for transporting units overseas. At the time, the US had, I think five “Fast Supply” ships-USNS Algol, Altair, Denebola, etc., and as well we also used other non-RORO ships like the Lyra. I’ve heard these ships have all been decommissioned, and given that they were commissioned in the early 80s, I’d assume they were overdue. Does the U.S. still have ships dedicated to transporting heavy equipment like that? I knew we were in trouble when I saw the number of shipyards closing, and before this, it never occurred to me that these cargo ships (American flagged cargo ships) needed to be out there making money as well. I think a big problem this country faces is that the average citizen doesn’t realize what it takes to maintain the logistics for our armed services. Whenever something goes down, most people simply assume that we can respond. This extends to politicians. I’m sure most congressmen and women do not understand the complexities of shipping, and likewise what it takes to maintain our logistical capabilities.
they were all decomm'd without replacement, using the "logic" that "we can just charter ships from commercial operators as needed". And then the US government made it next to impossible to run US flagged ships through ever increasing taxation and wage imparity with low cost countries, so they lost that capacity as well.
$950.000,000,000. (approx) per year. That is nine hundred and fifty *_BILLION_* dollar annual for the DOD to spend And still it isn't enough. Spoiled to the bone.
There's an old adage: "I may not know much about the subject under discussion, but I can tell if the other guy does.." Good heavens, Sal. Such an obvious in-depth knowledge of the MSP and related programs. You probably know more about it than the guys that wrote it. Or maybe you were involved? Wouldn't surprise me if you were. I learn something with every video. Thanks.
I like the longer episodes, we get more in depth information and not just a sample of a story...samples we can get pretty much anywhere, but the in depth breakdown of an issue like this one is a welcome site! (Pun intended). Please do more like this, please.
Many people want the US government to provide total security. They shy then away from paying the costs to directly support things like fleets, bases, staff within the government preferring to outsource everything possible under contract to the private sector. As you say, the private sector wants to make a profit and doing only DOD work won't pay the bills.... Also, monitoring contract compliance is a huge problem in contracted work. They can't have their cake and eat it too... Good policy and good politics don't always go hand in hand.
Just thought it was time to congratulate you on your You Tube site. I am a newcomer to this site but really enjoy the insights you offer, the knowledge and experience you clearly have. I am resident in Brisbane Australia, so a long way from your base although I did spend a year in Manhattan in the late 80’s I especially liked your coverage of the various o ship fires involving EV’s Thank you and wishing you more success. Barry
What a Mess! Great Job of explaining the issues. We are not going to solve the problem, if we do not understand the problem. I think "What is Going on With Shipping" should be required attendance by all Americans prior to voting. Just saying. You are a National Hero!
I was Master of a small cellular containership that was owned by Maersk AS registered in Singapore. It was reflagged to the US Flag as part of this business, primarily to be used on the Arabian Gulf East African service but with a huge volume of the cargo space reserved for US Aid and Military cargoes. The American seafarers who boarded to take over from us couldn’t believe how luxurious the accommodation was onboard, but on the other hand we could not believe how much higher their wages were than ours. As a senior Master of 15 years seniority I was earning less than the US 3rd Mate who joined…………… and I can assure you that by European standards I was on a very, very good salary with included health insurance and a contributory pension.
Sam, I’ve just checked on Marine Traffic - that small ship used to be called Safmarine Ngami, at the last drydocking she was renamed to Maersk Chesapeake. The amount of money MLL had to spend on her to comply with US regulations was amazing - especially changes to fire pumps and mains - on a vessel built to IMO/SOLAS minimum rules so she could be flagged under any flag with minimal reflag cost except the unexpected change to US flag! We had 6 USCG officers fly out to Jebel Ali (UAE) as well as class (she remained ABS with the change from Singapore to US Flag) surveyors onboard for the reflag and the USCG officer carrying out the accommodation inspections for MLC compliance had a very easy job as she was well in excess of the accommodation rules in every respect - crew cabins were unlike anything he had seen provided for US Flag vessels for instance. There were things that they didn’t like too like the level,of automation and sophisticated UMS engineroom operation with UMS from berth to berth………. We always had the Chief Engineer either on the bridge or in the control room on manoeuvring just incase, but it wasn’t necessary according to the certification. Ourvmanning certificate was for minimum of 16 personnel but we routinely sailed with 18 or 19 plus a couple of trainees - USCG Minimum Safe Manning Certificate was for 20 persons (there was accommodation for 22 + pilot). The only other Flag State vessels that I have sailed in that required equipment in addition to IMO / SOLAS was when I was on a vessel reflagged from Liberia to German - an additional forward life raft to the normal 6 man one was the addition there IIRC and Germany wouldn’t accept other EU (this was pre 2021) state’s licences for CEC’s so I had to take a German Master’s Licence and we had one crew position onboard reserved to a German National (ship’s mechanic/ repairman) and a very small proportion of the officers had to be German nationals. I loved sailing as a “German” Master on a ship registered in Hamburg, especially when pilots came onto the bridge and were shocked to find a Brit in command of a German flag containership!
There is an article on Lloyds list from 31 May 2022 about Maersk conducting cabotage within China, they must feel really comfortable with Maersk and maybe the ties go a lot deeper than we know.
I know it was just for a second of the video but I worked on one of the 250k barrel ATB’s Centerline bought from the Bouchard bankruptcy. Manning that huge vessel with 10 total personnel. It’s ridiculously under manned but the USCG has not changed the manning requirements at all for the ATB’s
I always knew that shipping was “crazy complex”, but wow having such fundamental differences between DoT and DoD legislative frameworks is a huge spanner… Who would have thought that race-to-the-bottom cost chasing would end up being such a threat to national (and arguably global) security… (I’m being a bit sarcastic here) As an aside, you mentioned (and I’m paraphrasing) “Maersk’s interests diverged from Denmark’s”. It could be argued that historically Maersk (and all the trading firms of each time) were the national interest, and geopolitics served trade, not the inverse. Admittedly “shipping” and “trading” are pretty different beasts, and “shipping” as a concept was “a great disrupter” for the time. Excellent video as always.
At fuel terminals, a ATB cannot remove it's tug during discharge because if USCG orders the ATB to depart it need to do so almost immediately under its own power. ATB can however be alongside the barge at dock for this scenario.
what's so complicated about it... here's a five point summary: 1. the US Navy needs tankers to supply it's fleet... 2. PRC sees any company that works with the US Navy as helping their potential/future enemy (given current politics they have a point there...) 3. Maersk (and potentially others) see China as more important than the US in the future of their companies business... so they withdraw from working with the US Navy because it is potentially damaging relations with the more important customer 4. due to complexity of the tanker industry, a subsidy cannot compensate a tankers lack of freedom in thesame way it can for container ship (don't really believe in that myself... it's just a question of a difference in price) 5. the Government has two choices, Pay someone money to do the Job, or force them to do it because they are strong and have the right to issue laws. (or at least they think they are until the reality of their hubris and market forces catch up with them through economic ruin)
We need subsidized, standardized shallow, mid and deep draft tanker classes to be Jones act built, GoCo and leased to US shipping companies. We used to have this. T-5 anyone? Common supply chains saves maintenance and operation costs!
With all the knowledge and information that you have and the ability to communicate/teach that information, why are you not on a dozen or more boards/ committees? Seems like the industry and government agencies should be falling all over themselves to have your kind of institutional knowledge available to accomplish their goals. Of course, maybe they already know the end goal and don’t want to be confused with facts?
Excellent video ! Wish you could give this same presentation to the policy makers in Congress and the DoD. They obviously don't know how all the nuances affect the situation.
Good report. The US should consider all aspects of an issue before they create another regulation that often creates more serious issues for the US and all involved.
TERRIFIC PIECE Outstanding coverage of a most important subject by Sal........ One wonders if anyone in Government or the Military ever catches up with what is being said on WIGOWS...? James Hennighan Yorkshire, England
Great video! very detailed with exciting and important background and reasoning. #Looking at the situation from a bit more distance, I think this is what ultimately happens, if a nation values free market over the common good and the nations interest. In other words, as long as politicians make policies to please their voters, lobby groups or gut feeling, the outcome will not be beneficial for the nation as a whole. Especially not in the long run. But then again, that is why there is rarely a scientifically trained person in U.S. politics. Scientists asks for facts and proof that something would work. And scientists always rely on other scientists to find the flaws in their thinking by sharing their work. Something politicians in the Divided States of America these days are having a very hard time to do.
With Crowley, you have APT (American Petroleum Tankers) labeled tankers and it seems Crowley is moving more to ATBs (Liberty, Legend, Legecy are 3 tugs I can think of off the top of my head. 750-1 through 750-3 with the actual barge. 550 also)
If I understand this correctly, we have added 10 tankers to the u.s. fleet. With plans for ten more. Who is going to sail them. I was at the siu hall last week. They have 9 pages of jobs with immediate openings. I was the only person there. I hear MEBA is just as bad right now. Not sure about MMP. I just don't see the man power for this.
Your channel should be required viewing for anyone who deals with related policy as well as journalists from mainstream media who need to do a much better job conveying this important information to the general public.
But in a wartime emergency can't the US Government commandeer US-registered commercial ships like in WWII? The British RN grabs everything of value when they need it, they can literally take your ship (but you still own it and they pay you).
Interesting. Points out a serious flaw in our Navy capabilities and our security as a naval power. Oh well, I'm sure nobody will notice.....until our ships get stuck somewhere because they ran out of fuel. Might notice that.
So we're just going to dump all of that still usable nuclear fuel down a hole when we could be reprocessing it to use again? This world is so stupid the reason for it's continued existence is as mysterious as the inside of a neutron star.
@@jonahhekmatyar, "successful people" ? like BiII (not a doctor) gates ? There will be No more "new" nuclear reactors being built in America... The cost of building jus 1 reactor is in the Billions of dollars, hints the 2 in Georgia that were originally "estimated" to cost $14 billion, but now will be in excess of $31 Billion when all said and done... Unlike the $9 Billion spent, jus to Plan to Build the 2 reactors in South Carolina...That's right, They weren't even Built, and cost American tax people $9 Billion... And with NucIear Facilities having to store their waste, that Last 100s to 1000s of years, onsite because places like Yucca mountain and WlPP are "over capacity"... Simply, NucIear is NOT our answer to "energy", only war. And for some reason, I think you know this... So I digress
Its my guess, Sal doesn't speak of this part of Shipping, is because its such a Deep Subject, to where thus channel may not exist anymore when speaking against the NucIear lndustry
There is a simple solution to this....the US needs a domestic shipbuilding industry and American owned and operated global container-ship and tanker lines. Without them, the US is going to find a global presence is likely going to become more difficult as the world fractures into regional trading blocs. Global capability coupled with regional trading blocs already represent a challenge and with virtually no US shipping companies that challenge becomes even greater. A simple solution exists...but the simple thing is going to be extremely difficult to implement given US distraction and lack of focus.
Key is the American public (outside professionals and the tiny few genuinely interested) do not understand or care about shipping AT ALL and have not done so in the past several decades. Most outside the issue of military reform don't know that issue is not remotely of public interest because it's more complex than the trifles they prefer to mental engagement. Combine those nationally self-inflicted problems and here we are.
Does it really matter if Tankers are in the US registry or not? If the US Navy needed tankers could you not just charter them at that point and reflag them?
I have to wonder if the transfer of many of the US Navy auxiliary ships to the MSC in the 80’s is somehow involved with all of this. I sort of agreed with the philosophy of this move with Congress at the time, but it was also clear that not enough financial support went along with it. So, what is your impression?
A complex situation but well explained. I'm not sure about your twitter comment "something rotten going on in Denmark" though. There's something rotten going on, but it doesn't sound like it's in Denmark.
interesting point does the Jones Act make any American sailor part of the Military? would that mean that in case of a skirmish or territorial of any kind any Americans on board vessels say in Shanghai or Hong-Kong could be totally legally shipped off into a POW camps? because, I don't think most Americans signed up for that.... because, that's what the legal argument (as the law is interpreted) sounds like it's saying for now.
Am I naive to think the reason corners are cut, and ships made overseas all to save money? The more they save, the more money made by everyone down the line. Our 401ks are invested in companies finding cheaper ways to make money. They have to grow, show growth of a certain % a year of income. So really it’s Wall Street that is driving our companies out of business and our ships coming from China. My sister asked me why we don’t pump our own oil and make our own gas. It sucks but, if we pump our own oil, refine it, deliver it…we would be paying 6-7$ per gallon. Buying it from overseas is way cheaper.. Again…saving money
The U.S.can always seize foreign, non Chinese/Russian merchant ships and impress the crews into our merchant marine if necessary. If we pay them more, I doubt they would object. They might even welcome it.
Mersk knows that meeting with Biden (Brandon), and Buttigieg (Mayor Pete), would be a complete waste of time. They know they need to meet with their puppet master(s).
Interesting! I fear that having tankers nominally on hand might be meaningless unless they have on-board anti-anti-ship-missile-missiles and ditto protection against other weapons. Doesn't sound likely, does it? In large scale war I suspect these will become submarines pretty quickly...
Personally, I hate the title. Can't get more un-American than naming a bureaucrat often unappointed by Congress to hold the Russian version of a dictatorial anti-Republican title.
Not being as knowledgeable as most people on here, it seems that the U.S. administration who is involved with this issue might welcome a conversation with you on it.
“40/40/20”. In our trade agreements, 40% of cargoes to and from come and go on US flag vessels. 40% of cargoes to and from go on trade partner’s vessels. 20% is up for the world market. The concept has been around for over 30 years.
Seems like cohesive leadership on this logistical pain point / vulnerability is lacking. PS - seems DoD should have enough brainpower and bureaucrats to manage this issue
It seems to me the main point is USN doesn't have the tankers to support the Pacific fleet in forward deployment. Second related point the Administration has no clue what the real issues are or how to solve them. The USN is at risk of becoming a coastal defense fleet because of the lack of logistical support.
It’s not hard our political leadership and military officials have put the safety of our nation at a terrible risk what a shame I don’t know how they sleep on all that I’ll gotten gains very sad 😢
@@Stefan-mg5gl If they start another one we can just erase them from existence with the press of a button. Of all the countries with nukes, the European countries have the least and we have the most. Just have to give them a strong ultimatum that if they try to start shit they will be promptly sent back to the stone age.
Good Grief . Scary to trust Profits & Lives on Anything manufactured in China these days . Electric vehicles to Construction . Everyone seems to rushed to get things right .
As if it's not scary enough realizing there's an entire body and area of knowledge you know almost nothing about and understand the true dynamics of even less, then its starts to dawn on you just how intensely vital that thing you dont understand and thought to ignore is to basically every part of the life you enjoy. AND THEN you get to realize how fragile that system is and how its controlled by idiots and not by men like our good Captain above (Sal not God😉). Its enough to give you nightmares
When I win the 'bigtime' lottery.. One of your biggest stories 1. the Jones Act has to be revised.. The USA can not even build the ships. A. if a ship is repaired in a major way (hull replaced, new power units and propellers), the Jones Act requirements are met. 2. large ships have higher catastrophic failure consequences, risk (tax) that has to be applied in any entry into US waters, thus favoring smaller vessels. 3. Age limits can be removed by major refits of the hulls. 4. the US military has to give long term contracts and even in manning of these vessels in US waters (active participation that benefits sailors that are looking for a long term career in the military ) thus alleviating the security necessities.
