Marine Log - October 2008 - (Page 14)

INSIDEWASHINGTON Defense Act has “hidden” maritime items T he House and Senate Armed Services Committees reached a deal on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2009 that includes full funding for the third DDG-1000 destroyer. This, however, does not mean that DDG-1000 acquisition will not be truncated in favor of a return to the DDG-51. Tucked way in the back of the bill though are other maritime items, such as $30 million for the Title XI Ship Mortage Guarantee Program. Winston & Strawn LLP has produced a briefing that highlights some of these provisions. Act”) may be waived “in the interest of national defense” pursuant to the Act of December 27, 1950. This was invoked twice by President Bush to waive the Jones Act in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Since 1990, requests for waivers have generally been considered pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement among the Treasury Department, the DOT, and the Energy Department. The U.S. Maritime Administration’s role under the MOA is to assess whether qualified U.S.-flag vessels. If such U.S.-flag ships are not available, then a waiver could be granted. Some ambiguity has arisen as to whether DOT’s authority applies when waiver requests are not energy related. The FY 09 Defense Authorization seeks to remove that ambiguity by requiring a DOT determination for all waivers “of the non-availability of qualified United States flag capacity to meet national defense requirements.” JONES ACT WAIVERS All U.S. navigation and vessel inspection laws, including section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 (the “Jones RIDING GANGS U.S. law requires crews of predominantly U.S. citizens aboard U.S.-flag vessels. Foreign nationals have nevertheless been utilized for many years to “ride” U.S.-flag vessels and perform underway maintenance. In 2006, Congress prohibited the use of such personnel on board vessels under contract with the DoD unless the Department complied with certain limitations generally applicable to such personnel. The exceptions provided, though, did not match those applicable to other U.S.-flag vessels. The FY 09 Defense Authorization makes it clear that the exceptions available to DoD are complete exemptions both from the DoD specific riding gang limitations and those generally applicable to U.S.-flag vessels. VESSEL SCRAPPING Export of vessels owned by the U.S. Government for scrapping abroad has been controversial for many years. The FY 09 Defense Authorization prohibits the export of such vessels unless certain conditions are met. For more on these and other provisions of the FY09 Act go to www.winston.com and type “maritime briefing” in the search box. 14 MARINE LOG OCTOBER 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.winston.com http://www.pointeightpower.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - October 2008

Marine Log - October 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Fresh Fuel Ferries Exhibitors Preview Ferries get "Smarter" China's Great Ambitions Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events Website Directory ML Buyer's Guide ML Marketplace Shipbuilding History

Marine Log - October 2008

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