America’s Shipyards Are Working — and Winning

By VOICES Staff. Across the United States, the shipbuilding industry is booming.  According to WorkBoat’s 2024 Construction Survey, more than 925 vessels were either delivered, under construction, or on order in the past year alone. That includes everything from tugboats and training ships to advanced subsea installation vessels and LNG-ready containerships. Recent milestones in Pennsylvania […]

The Trump Opportunity: Shipbuilders Discuss America’s Maritime Moment

Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Mike Roberts (Left) hosts the discussion at the Institute's DC offices (Credit: American Maritime VOICES).

By VOICES Staff. For the first time in decades, the men and women of American Maritime are in the spotlight, receiving Presidential and Congressional support, attention that industry veterans say was “really unimaginable until really just two or three years ago.” At a recent Hudson Institute panel discussion, leading voices in American shipbuilding came together […]

Constructing a Giant: The Journey of the FREDERICK PAUP

The snapshot of the project team aboard the FREDERICK PAUP. Photo credit: FREDERICK PAUP Project Team

By J.Anthony Tedpahogo. From the first concept on paper to a fully operational machine, Manson Project Manager Jordan Brown reflects on the collective effort it took to bring America’s largest self-propelled trailing suction hopper dredge, the FREDERICK PAUP, to life. The journey spanned over a decade starting with pre-planning by Vice President and Gulf & […]

The Impact of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” on the Jones Act and U.S. Maritime Growth

By VOICES Staff. On July 4th, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBB), a massive reconciliation package that includes significant provisions for the maritime industry. The bill delivers critical funding to enhance U.S. maritime security, shipbuilding, and defense capabilities, while fostering economic growth and job creation in maritime-related sectors. The […]

Crowley Tug Repowers Boost Maritime Readiness in America’s Busiest Ports

The Master and Leader were originally delivered in April 1998, built to last by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Freeland, Washington state (CREDIT: Crowley)

By VOICES Staff. Two of the hardest-working tugboats on the West Coast are back in action—smarter, cleaner, and more powerful than ever. Crowley has completed full repowers of the Master and Leader, its ship assist and escort tugs serving the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. These modernizations are helping ensure the ports — […]

A Cleaner Fleet Starts at the Shipyard

A Western Lake Erie harmful algal bloom from September 26, 2017. The scum shown here near downtown Toledo stretched all the way to Lake Ontario. This photo is from Landsat-8 (CREDIT: NASA/USGS).

By VOICES Staff. As America charts a course toward building, crewing and sailing more U.S. ships, maritime innovators are stepping up to meet the need to protect our inland waterways, Great Lakes and ocean territory. Among them is  Florida-based Seascour, a company revolutionizing one of the most overlooked, and potentially environmentally harmful, aspects of ship […]

Muscular new escort tug supports a resurgent Port of Baltimore

The Jones Act-qualified Isabel McAllister, built in 2025 by Washburn & Doughty, has become a major asset for the recovering Port of Baltimore. (Image Credit: McAllister Towing)

By Casey Conoly, Professional Mariner. McAllister Towing & Transportation’s multiyear fleet renewal gained momentum this spring with the arrival of Isabel McAllister in the Port of Baltimore. The 6,770-hp tug is the fourth delivery in a six-boat series from Washburn & Doughty Associates in East Boothbay, Maine. The shipyard also designed Isabel using its proven […]

Wave of Support Voiced for Jones Act

By Seafarers International Union. America’s freight cabotage law – a crucial part of national, economic and homeland security for more than a century – recently received strong backing from several prominent sources. During a March 5 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Randall Reed, USAF, commander of the United States Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), […]

Jones Act Debate Takes Center Stage on Leading Podcast – Bloomberg’s Odd Lots

(From left to right) Cato Spokesperson Colin Grabow, Bloomberg's Tracy Alloway, Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal, and the Transportation Institute's Sara Fuentes discuss the merits of the Jones Act.

By VOICES Staff. The Miracle Theatre, Washington, DC’s oldest movie theater, was packed with an engaged audience as one of the nation’s leading podcasts – Bloomberg’s “Odd Lots” – recorded its first-ever episode on the Jones Act. Hosted by analysts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, this was also the show’s first live event in the […]

Column: Anti-Jones Act attacks don’t hold water

Newest Jones Act Vessel MV Janet Marie arrives at the Port of Long Beach

By Captain Ed Enos. It’s curious why some are pushing so hard against the Jones Act in Hawaii lately (“Jones Act hurts more than it helps,” Island Voices, Star-Advertiser, Feb. 23). Contrary to what Grassroot Institute-affiliated scholar Colin Grabow writes, the Jones Act doesn’t impact the cost of fuel in Hawaii because our island refinery […]