The Critical Role of U.S. Mariners and the Jones Act in National Defense

OSG Mariners

By Sam Norton, CEO of Overseas Shipholding Group. A nation that chooses to prioritize a strong defense capability must recognize the critical importance of logistics to the broader mission, particularly the vital role that maritime logistics will play when the combat theatre is distant.  While some, if not many, of the assets needed to meet these requirements […]

Hurricane Aftermath in Florida: Fuel Deliveries Highlight Misconceptions About the Jones Act

By Sam Norton. Among the multitude of current challenges facing residents of Florida’s west coast communities hammered by back-to-back hurricanes is a widely reported shortage of gasoline.  It is predictable that Jones Act opponents will use the fuel crisis spawned by these natural disasters to recycle old tropes pinning the root cause of empty fuel stations on […]

Cleaning Up America’s Ports

By Charlie Miller.  The maritime industry is increasingly looking for more ways to achieve greater sustainability. While shipping by America’s inland and coastal waterways is extremely efficient, particularly compared to other modes of transportation, there is renewed attention to how ports can work to reduce emissions.  As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) puts it: […]

America Must Renew its Commitment to Maritime

The United States must renew its commitment to a strong, reliable American maritime capability to confront emerging threats. China’s aggressive shipping expansion poses significant challenges to the United States and our allies. Global tensions have highlighted the vulnerability of maritime supply chains, and our domestic waterways remain a potential pathway for increasingly belligerent adversaries to […]

Senator Wicker: Jones Act Strengthens U.S. Navy & Merchant Shipping

By Senator Wicker (R-MS). Another day, another attack on the Jones Act. Colin Grabow and Scott Lincicome’s “Protectionism Kills U.S. Merchant Shipping” (op-ed, Feb. 26) calls for the law’s repeal. For hundreds of years, Congress has entrusted domestic maritime commerce to American companies, ships and mariners for a simple reason: It works. The law helps stabilize the nation’s […]

Protecting American Ports

By Jay Smilyk, VP of Americas, NanoLock Security Recent incidents underscore the reality of cyber risks facing the maritime industry. An attack in January 2023 successfully deployed ransomware against a major ship software supplier, affecting around 1,000 vessels. Det norske Veritas (DNV), a Norwegian maritime giant, stated that it was targeted with ransomware, forcing them to shut […]