September 19, 2025 • 30 mins
Season 5 of By Land and By Sea continues with a Captain’s Log edition—a fast, plain-language rundown of the biggest moves reshaping U.S. maritime policy and global shipping.
The maritime landscape is being reshaped through deliberate U.S. policy shifts targeting China's global port network, the United States implementing new vessel fees, WSC addressing container ship safety, expanding mariner credentialing, and combating cargo theft.
- US mounting ambitious maritime strategy to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative port network, treating port access as national security
- New USTR Section 301 port fees starting October 14 will charge vessels built in China or operated by Chinese companies when calling at US ports
- World Shipping Council launched a cargo safety program using AI-powered screening to prevent container ship fires caused by misdeclared dangerous goods
- Coast Guard extended the sea service recency period from three to seven years, helping retain mariners who step away from sailing
- DOT seeking industry input on cargo theft through an October 20 Request for Information to address sophisticated criminal operations
🎧 Listen: Season 5, Episode 2 — Ships, Fees, and Thieves: The New Maritime Chessboard
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💡 Upcoming Live Webinar: Thursday, October 2 at 12:00 PM ET — USTR China 301 Port Fees. Register at TheMaritimeProfessor.com to learn who actually gets stuck with the bill—in plain language, no fine print.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ready to go?
You're listening to by Land andby Sea, powered by the Maritime
Professor.
Six big developments reshapingmaritime policy and supply
(00:23):
chains from China's Belt andRoad ports to new US port fees,
crane tariffs, marinercredential reforms, cargo theft
protections and more.
Welcome to my captain's log onby Land and by Sea.
Hi, welcome back to by Land andby Sea, an attorney breaking
down the weakened supply chain.
Presented by the MaritimeProfessor.
I'm Lauren Began, former FMCInternational Affairs Attorney.
Presented by the MaritimeProfessor.
(00:44):
I'm Lauren Began, former FMCInternational Affairs Attorney
and founder of the MaritimeProfessor and Squall Strategies
by Land and by Sea is your go-toresource for navigating the
regulatory side of global oceanshipping and me, well, I'm your
favorite maritime attorney.
Right, I'm here to walk youthrough both ocean transport and
surface transport topics in thewild world of supply chain.
As always, the Guidance ServiceGeneral for educational
(01:06):
purposes only.
It should not be construed tobe legal advice, and there is no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
This is Plain Language Maritimecreated so that anyone, not
just lawyers and industryinsiders, can understand what's
happening in the world ofshipping.
So let's dive into thisCaptain's Log edition because,
as you know, ocean shippingrules the world.
(01:28):
All right.
Well, captain's Log number oneUS targets China global port
network.
What are we talking about here?
Reuters reported that the USgovernment is mounting its most
ambitious maritime strategysince the 1970s, aimed at
countering China's grip onglobal ports.
Now, what I saw in this articlethere was a few new things, but
it's kind of pulling togetherthe conversation that we've been
(01:50):
having about all these littledeaths by a thousand, cuts, all
these things that the US is nowbolstering the US presence and
bolstering the US strength on,but also is a little bit cutting
away at some of China's grip onthese larger maritime strength
points for them.
So this has been years in themaking through China's Belt and
(02:11):
Road Initiative.
That was China's globalinfrastructure program launched
in 2013.
If you're not familiar, Isuggest you maybe go take a look
at it, see what this Belt andRoad Initiative is all about.
It's been going for what's thatabout?
12 years now.
Look, plain language here.
The Belt and Road Initiative isChina's global building project
.
They help countries finance andconstruct ports, railways and
(02:31):
highways.
But there's kind of a catch, iswhat it seems like.
By footing the bill, chinaoften gets long-term control
over some of the infrastructure,or at least that's what it
seems like, right?
So it's like if the neighborbuilt you a driveway for free
but then kind of keeps the keysto the gate for the next 40
years, or that's how it could beinterpreted.
So in the article they talkabout ports in Greece, sri Lanka
(02:54):
and even the Panama Canal,where China has some interest,
some stakes.
Now that's leverage that Chinacould potentially use.
That's the fear to restrict orredirect global shipping flows
in a crisis, right?
So if something were to happen,potentially China could have
control over these areas.
That might be globally veryimportant.
(03:15):
So the US has been finding waysto get involved in those
conversations, perhaps getinvolved in some of these port
purchases.
We saw that recently with thePanama Canal but they're
treating port access as anational security issue and
finding ways of trying tocounteract perhaps some of this
(03:36):
expansiveness, right?
So if the world trade is ahighway, china's been kind of
buying the tollbooths.
Essentially, right, the USwants to buy some of those back
and at least make sure thatallies own them so that it's not
just one country across theworld who kind of controls these
tollbooths, if you will.
So the FMC angle here in thearticle talks a little bit about
this the Federal MaritimeCommission's choke points
(03:58):
investigation.
I did a whole course on this.
Go check it out if you want tolearn more about this choke
points investigation.
I anticipate that we're goingto be seeing something about
that choke points investigationagain.
It was an investigation wherethey were assessing seven
different choke points andreally anywhere else that
commenters might have thoughtson across the entire globe and
finding out if there were unfairor unreasonable practices
(04:22):
associated with these chokepoints.
Right, there were channels,there were seaways Panama Canal
was on there, look, on paper.
What they wanted to do was findout about the unreasonable and
unfair practices that might behappening.
But really, I mean, what'shappening here is this is a
global look at making sure thatthese tollbooths in our analogy
(04:45):
of world trade aren't quietlytilted against either US
interest, because that's wherethe FMC really is, kind of the
spokesperson for, notspokesperson the referee for.
Just generally, ocean trade cancontinue to move freely and
without unreasonable or unfairinstances involved, right?
(05:11):
So that's what the choke pointsis kind of getting at and that
kind of works into the largerarticle.
Go check out this Reutersarticle.
It's pretty interesting.
It kind of lays out a wholedifferent thing.
There's a few differentstrategies that we haven't seen
otherwise publicly mentionedfrom unnamed administrative
officials.
So it's a pretty interestingarticle.
It came out this week.
It kind of went under the radara little bit, but I think that
(05:31):
you should go check that out.
All right, captain's log numbertwo, breaking down the USTR port
fee.
So the most immediate changewell, the most immediate change
or the most immediate thing thatI want to bring this back up to
is we are less than a monthaway from these port fees being
implemented.
And so, just as a littlereminder, right, these are the
port fees, these are the USTRSection 301 port fees.
(05:55):
And so, starting October 14th,if a ship is operated by a
Chinese company or was built ina Chinese shipyard, it will pay
a new fee when it calls at theUS ports.
These fees don't stay flat.
They actually ratchet upincrementally for the next few
years, at least the next few, Ithink, through 2028.
So what this kind of boils downto if a ship is made in China
(06:19):
or it's owned or operated by aChinese company, you're going to
pay to get back to our toll, atoll to dock in the US that's a
fee, right.
We now have toll yards or youknow, like when you're on the
highway we're collecting feesbased on what kind of carriers
(06:40):
or what kind of vessels arecoming in.
Now I don't think that this isgoing to be a major new line
item, but I say that withcaution.
Carriers are able to kind ofrotate non-China built vessels
out of the US trades or, excuseme, non-china built vessels into
the US trades and China builtvessels out of the US trades.
(07:00):
We've seen that some messagingCMA was doing.
There were some public articlesthat said that CMA was doing
that to try to position theirfleet so that they are less
exposed to some of these portfees that would otherwise ding a
China built vessel Right.
So there's two categories Chinaowned or operated or China
(07:22):
built.
So you could have a Europeancompany who is operating a China
built vessel.
Right, because we know Chinadominates the shipbuilding world
.
But we also know Korea ispretty good at containerized
cargo vessels too.
So there are some of thosevessels out there and others.
But what's happening here iswe're seeing the ocean carriers
(07:43):
maneuvering their fleet so thatyou have the China-built vessels
moving out of the US routes andperhaps moving into the
European routes, because thereisn't the same port fee over
there and they're going to bebringing over their, for example
, korean-built vessels as partof their service lines that call
the US.
Because in containerized cargomovements these are regular
(08:06):
liner service, right, we haven'ttalked about that in a while,
but it's a regular liner servicethat has predictability.
It has a dedicated serviceroute.
This is a kind of airplaneroute that you'll see, but it's
vessels right going throughoutthe entire world.
There's reliability in whatships are designated on those
(08:27):
trade lanes.
But look, here's the thing,even if I don't think that this
is going to be a major new lineitem for shippers, any cost is
unwelcome, right, when importersare already paying for higher
tariffs on their goods.
But I want you to remember thatthis is part of a bigger
picture here.
This is part of a largerstrategy that the US is now
taking.
These fees are designed to pushcarriers away from Chinese
(08:50):
shipyards, right, because look,if every time you drove a
certain brand of car, you had topay an extra toll at these toll
booths right, we're stickingwith the analogy here You'd
eventually stop buying thatbrand and moving toward a brand
that didn't have a tollassociated with it.
So the same logic is here.
These fees aren't just abouttoday's bills and trying to
(09:10):
generate income.
They're about tomorrow's fleetchoices.
They really are trying toimpact market decisions of ocean
carriers that are operatingthese vessels to drive them away
from China built and towardperhaps one of our allies in the
short term.
And the plan is for the US tobe building commercial cargo
(09:31):
vessels in the near.
We'll see what that looks likenear term, and so perhaps it's
Korea tomorrow and perhaps it'sUS beyond that.
And so if we can maneuver awayfrom China built by these fees
and push markets toward ourallies, our friends or perhaps
(09:54):
us when we're ready, that'swhat's happening here.
Look, I'm going to be breakingthis down the fee schedule, how
they're calculated, kind ofwho's exempt.
There's a whole category ofvessels that are exempt, even if
they're China built.
I'm going to be doing that onThursday, october 2nd, at noon
Eastern.
This is going to be part of myJust In Time Learning Live
(10:15):
webinar.
I'm going to walk you throughit, plain English.
So if you're interested inlearning a little bit more
before that October 14thdeadline of the first vessels
coming in, how can you kind ofprotect yourself a little bit.
How can you make sure that youare aware, does your vessel,
that your cargo is moving on?
Does it even have a fee thatshould have been associated with
it?
We're going to break down someof those strategies.
(10:37):
Register atthemaritimeprofessorcom.
If you can't make it live, thecourse will be available on
demand afterwards.
All right, captain's Log numberthree World Shipping Council
Cargo Safety Program.
So the World Shipping Councilthis week announced that they've
launched a first-of-its-kindcargo safety program to address
one of the most serious risks inocean shipping container ship
fires.
We've seen some container shipfire messages, media excuse me,
(11:02):
news articles happening in thepast few years.
This is kind of getting to that.
Right, ship fires are at theirhighest level in more than a
decade.
A major cause, dangerous goodsthat are either undeclared or
misdeclared.
Right Cargo that isn't labeledcorrectly Think lithium
batteries listed as just merelyelectronics.
Look, one bad box can endangerthousands of others, the ship
(11:23):
and the crew, and one of themajor, if not the most dangerous
, thing to happen on a vessel isa fire.
So the new program aims toprevent these disasters by
AI-powered screening.
So using National Cargo Bureautechnology to scan bookings in
real time, flagging high-riskshipments, common inspection
standards, so carriers areapplying the same safety checks,
and an incident feedback loopwhere real-world cases will
(11:47):
strengthen prevention measuresover time At launch.
What World Shipping Council issaying is that carriers
representing over 70% of globalcapacity have already joined
this program.
Joe Kramick, world ShippingCouncil's President and CEO,
said it in the announcement thecargo safety program strengthens
the industry's safety net bycombining shared screening
technology, common inspectionstandards and real-world
(12:09):
feedback to reduce risk.
Plain language this doesn'treplace shippers' legal duty to
declare the dangerous goods.
It just adds another safety net.
Look, fires at sea don't justcause damage.
They take ships out of service,they can sink a ship, they can
tighten capacity for everybodyelse and they can ripple across
(12:30):
global supply chains.
This is an of the people, ships, cargo and ports that Maritime
(12:55):
Administrator Sang-Yi hasmentioned at our first episode
last week.
Now we're going to talk aboutthe mariners here.
The Coast Guard has extendedthe sea service recency period
from three years to seven years.
So what does that mean?
Before this change, if youhadn't sailed in the past three
years, you risk potentiallylosing ground on your license.
If you wanted to expand yourlicense, increase your license
(13:15):
now.
You have seven years beforethat requirement kicks in Now.
This can be a huge relief formariners who perhaps have to
step away for family, shoresidework or military service.
Three years is a really shortperiod of time.
Seven years expansivelyenlarges that.
Now this is a workforce win ata time when every credentialed
mariner matters right.
We heard about that last weekwith our conversation, with
(13:36):
saying that this is a majorissue.
We can build all the ships wewant, but we have to keep
focused on increasing ourmariners available to sail those
ships.
Now I want to give a specialthanks to Nate Gilman, founder
of MMCs.
If you know MMCs, I kind ofconnected that when I was
mentioning this the other dayMerchant Marine Credential MMC,
and then his company is MM-SEASseas like ocean.
(14:01):
Look.
Nate summed it up perfectlythis is what removing barriers
to achieve American maritimedominance looks like in practice
.
He just put out a LinkedIn poston this and I thought that this
was a fantastic summary of notonly the good things that this
creates, going from three yearsto seven years, but he also had
seven ideas for other ways thatwe can kind of get to some of
(14:24):
the reforming of the Marinercredentialing process.
He suggested CAC for TWIC, soC-A-C for TWIC.
Eliminate the redundant andcostly TWIC background check for
federal personnel, immediatelyaccelerating the military to
mariner background.
So what is a CAC card?
It's a common access card orcommon access credential.
That's something that peoplewho work in especially the DOD
(14:47):
already have.
It's one of the most secure IDsand this is kind of the issue.
This is what he's saying.
It's used by military members,dod civilians and contractors
and it contains fingerprints,photos, encrypted data.
If somebody already has a CATcard, they've passed one of the
toughest background checks ingovernment, requiring them to do
another full TWIC check.
I mean, that's redundant, right?
(15:07):
Dropping that duplication wouldimmediately help service
members transition into maritimecareers.
It just makes sense One-to-one.
If not, it's even a strongerbackground check coming over.
The second thing he suggestedwas we all hold CPR or first aid
for work.
Eliminate the wasteful andbrand-specific first aid CPR
(15:28):
prerequisite that causes majordelays in credentialing
processing to streamline theapplication process and reduce
administrative burdens.
So look, mariners are already,for the most part, required to
hold CPR and first aid.
Most people for work arerequired to have CPR and first
aid Not most, but quite a few.
Right, but the Coast Guardsystem requires very specific
brand name courses that cancreate unnecessary delays in
(15:50):
cost, and that's Nate's pointhere.
Standardizing acceptance ofequivalent certifications would
streamline credential processingwithout compromising safety.
These are just simple things,simple little fixes.
The third thing he mentionedwas automatic continuity upon
expiration.
A Mariner's earnedqualification shouldn't vanish
because of a made-up deadlinethat can be fixed in minutes
inside of the USCG currentsoftware.
(16:12):
So the background right now, ifyour credential expires, even
briefly, you can lose thequalifications you worked years
to earn.
The COSAR's own systems couldeasily keep those records intact
.
This fix would ensure that apaperwork lapse doesn't erase
someone's professional standing.
Moving on to number four, wehave Nate saying one fee every
(16:34):
time.
Replace the complex anderror-prone fee structure with a
single flat fee, preventingabsolute cost predictability for
mariners and saving governmentresources.
So right now, the Coast Guard'scurrent fee schedule is a
little confusing, a littleperhaps unpredictable if you
can't understand it, and it canlead to mistakes.
A flat-face system would makethat clear, predictable and
(16:55):
easier to process for both themariners who are applying and
also the Coast Guard.
Number five and, like I said,he's got seven here, so we're
almost wrapping up.
Skills don't expire, he says.
Eliminate the arbitrary recencyrequirement that penalizes
valid experience, creating amore equitable system that
prevents the loss of skilledpersonnel.
Until this latest reform, ifyou hadn't sailed in three years
, you risk losing upgradeopportunities, even if you had
(17:18):
decades of valid experience.
Extending recency to sevenyears helps, but the larger
point is that skills don'tdisappear just because you've
been on shore for a few years,and I think this is something I
call the boomerang effect, wherewe might have mariners who then
go to shore.
For you know, maybe they're I'mgetting out of here.
This is too much for me.
They've been going out to seafor quite a while.
They think I'm never comingback, and then they go.
(17:41):
They build a family.
They come back in maybe 15, 20years, or in 15, 20 years
they're like okay, my kids areoff to college.
I kind of miss that adventureof going off to sea.
But they didn't do a continuityof their license at the time.
Maybe that's what we need.
We need some sort of continuity.
I know I've heard that nurseshave something similar.
During COVID we had some nurseswho were letting their licenses
(18:02):
lapse and then what happened isthey were able to come back
into the field because of alittle change to the licensure
here.
Perhaps that boomerang effectis something that we need and
Nate's point skills don't expire.
I think that's certainlyrelevant here.
If we can do it for nurses, wecan certainly do it for mariners
.
Number six of what Nate said onesea service form.
Mandate a single standard formfor civilian sea service to
(18:26):
eliminate frequent applicationerrors and ensure consistent,
fast and fair evaluations forall mariners.
Look, different companiescurrently use different forms,
which leads to mistakes anddelays in credentialing, and
there can be different forms forwhichever licensure category
that you're applying for.
As I have known every fiveyears with my 50-ton baby
(18:47):
captain's license I call it ababy license right, it is
compared to the unlimitedtonnages that are out there.
I know this well.
I know that every time, everyfive years, I have to go through
and think, okay, what do I need?
What form do I need?
What did I use last time?
Is it the same this time?
I like Nate's point here.
A single standardized formwould bring consistency and
speed to the process, making itfair and perhaps less
(19:08):
frustrating and certainly lesstime consuming.
A fair and perhaps lessfrustrating and certainly less
time consuming.
His last reform suggestion hereone TOS for service members
mandate a single standardizedtranscript of sea service TOS
formed to eliminate theadministrative burden on our
veterans, making the processfaster and more reliable.
So every military branchcurrently has its own version of
a TOS right Transcript of seaservice.
(19:30):
That patchwork system slowsdown applications and creates
confusion.
A standardized TOS would giveveterans a smoother, faster
transition into commercialmaritime careers and perhaps
would make it an easier job ofthe Coast Guard to help our
mariners go from military tomariners.
This is a program out ofMarriott.
It's a fantastic programMilitary to Mariner where we are
(19:50):
trying to transition those whohave sea time, who have sea
service moving over and gettingthem credentialed in the
maritime world as a MerchantMariner credential so that they
can help us, so that they can bepart of our Mariner workforce
that we so desperately need inthis country.
Look, nate's list is all aboutremoving friction, cutting
(20:11):
redundant checks, simplifyingpaperwork, making fees
predictable and honoring validexperience Small fixes here.
I didn't mean to go through thewhole list, but as I was kind
of looking at his list I thoughtthis is incredible.
These are simple things thatcould really happen quickly.
These are simple fixes thatwould make credentialing cheaper
, faster and more reliable.
I mean we can start withlow-hanging fruit.
(20:32):
We don't need to be solving theworld's problems.
We can solve some of thesequick administrative problems
and really speed things up.
Look, think about the DMV.
If your license expired, youwouldn't want to redo driver's
ed just to renew it, right?
These reforms are about cuttingthe same kind of unnecessary
(20:56):
roadblocks for mariners.
And you know, I've never had mylicense expire for my driver's
license, so perhaps perhaps youhave to redo driver's ed.
I'm not sure what it actuallyis, but that's kind of the
equivalency here.
Right?
If your license expired, maybeby a few days, you're probably.
Look, I don't want to go toofar into the DMV, I don't know
the drivering rules, but whatI'm saying here is you didn't
forget how to drive a car, youjust didn't file the paperwork.
(21:17):
Maritime, perhaps there'ssomething there.
All right, story number five onmy captain's log protecting
America's supply chain fromcargo theft.
This is another big one thisweek.
This just came out Departmentof Transportation is seeking
input on cargo theft.
I'm going to say that again theDepartment of Transportation is
seeking input on cargo theft.
They want to know more aboutwhat's happening in the supply
chain.
Cargo theft costs billions everyyear, if not more than billions
(21:39):
.
It can happen at truck stops,intermodal yards, ports,
warehouses it happens all acrossthe country.
And these operations, I meanI've been learning a little bit
more about cargo theft over thepast year or year and a half.
I mean I've been learning alittle bit more about cargo
theft over the past year or yearand a half.
They're very sophisticated.
They could have entirecompanies built up and you would
have no idea that they are partof this cargo theft ring.
(22:01):
Now, imagine if a package wasmissing off your porch.
Now that's annoying, right.
But imagine if an entirecontainer of pharmaceuticals or
electronics vanished en route.
That's the scale of loss thatDOT is trying to prevent.
The RFI, the Request forInformation, is open until
October 20th 2025, and they'reasking for input on where theft
happens most often, whichcommodities are the most
(22:23):
vulnerable, which preventionpractices or technologies are
working, how federal policy canhelp reduce theft without
slowing freight.
Look, the stakes are really highhere.
Cargo theft has been explodingsince COVID.
Shippers can lose cargo valueand face rebooking delays.
They can just lose their entirecargo.
Carriers can suffer higherinsurance premiums and it can be
(22:46):
tough to figure out when andwhere and who did what wrong.
Look, supply chains overall canreally suffer with cargo theft.
Obviously, I'm not sayinganything that you don't know
here, right?
Cargo theft isn't just anuisance, it's a growing crisis.
I am so encouraged to see DOTtrying to illuminate the issue,
getting more information on this.
(23:07):
I know that Commerce has donesome work on this in the past
too, but look, like I said,since COVID, theft has
exponentially increasedOrganized crime rings.
These are sophisticatedorganized crime rings not always
, but you'd be surprised howsophisticated these crime rings
are.
They can target high valueloads like electronics, food,
pharmaceuticals, remote handoffs, stretch trucking capacity.
(23:29):
Labor shortages can createopportunities that thieves can
quickly exploit, and that's whythis DOT RFI, this request for
information, is so important.
By gathering this data, wheretheft is happening, what's being
stolen and what preventionstrategies work.
I mean, that's what they'reasking for.
They want to know from theindustry Whenever an agency is
asking for comments from theindustry.
(23:50):
This is your opportunity, asthough you could have a meeting
with the Secretary ofTransportation himself, sean
Duffy.
This is your opportunity.
Write out what's going on inyour world.
Write out what's happening incargo theft.
Send that information.
This is your written version ofa meeting with Department of
Transportation.
The government has a chance totackle an issue here that
(24:10):
directly raises costs andundermine trust across the
entire supply chain.
I implore everybody here any ofmy listeners take a look at it
at least and consider filingcomments on this one.
They need to know what theydon't know.
They can't help, right, and thegovernment isn't always here to
help, but I would like to seethe government more informed,
based on the actual industryfeedback, on what's going on.
(24:31):
So take a look at this thecargo theft request for
information out of DOT.
All right, this last one thisis just in my captain's log.
We've been getting such a greatfeedback lately on our rebrand
and on our new model and our newapproach and I just want to say
thank you.
I really appreciate everyone'sexcitement right now, right
along with us, right in stepwith the rebrand of by Land and
(24:55):
by Sea.
It shows what a great communitywe have in the maritime world.
I've just been so I felt sosupported here this season.
You'll notice we have arefreshed logo, we have new
visuals, we have the new videointro, we have more guest
conversations happening withpolicymaker, port executives,
supply chain leaders, governmentofficials.
Look, the feedback has beenenergizing.
(25:15):
It tells me that the show isreally resonating with the
community, exactly who it wasbuilt for right.
We're expanding our Just-In-Timelearning courses through the
Maritime Professor.
Many of you joined the recentlive session which was FMC
versus Mar-Ed, and I got so muchgreat feedback on how helpful
the plain language breakdown was.
30 minutes or less that's whatJust-In-Time learning courses
(25:35):
are.
30 minutes or less that's whatjust-in-time learning courses
are.
30 minutes or less you willhave a great understanding of
what the topic is and you'reoften on your way for the day.
If you missed FMC versus MARAD,don't worry, the full course is
actually available on demand.
All of these just-in-timelearning courses, if there's a
live webinar, will thentransition into an on-demand
session that you can go listento the session and find out what
(25:56):
you missed.
If you've ever been confusedabout who does what in US
maritime policy, that FMC vsMARAD was a great course to.
It is a great course to go takea look at and, as our audience
continues to grow, this is theperfect time for organizations
to get involved.
I'm offering partnership andsponsorship opportunities to
connect with this nichehigh-level maritime community.
(26:16):
Email info atthemaritimeprofessorcom to learn
more.
And speaking of conversations,we have a great one next week.
I just had the conversation,this interview I'm going to be
joined with Caitlin Hardy ofNessie.
We're going to be talking aboutUS shipyard policy, kind of
continuing some of theconversation items that we
started with with ActingMaritime Administrator Sang Yee
last week.
(26:37):
We're going to get her thoughtson government investment in
repair and maintenance, the rolegeography plays in national
security, like I said, usshipyard policy, but her
thoughts on innovation and shipbuilding.
She is front and center on alot of these things.
It's going to continue theconversation we started last
week with Acting MaritimeAdministrator Sang-Yi.
You do not want to miss it.
Caitlin Hardy of Nessie, thisis a great conversation.
(26:59):
So that's next week.
So what does this all mean?
It means that the US issteadily tightening its grip on
the maritime space.
All these topics today in thisCaptain's Log whether it's
countering China's influence,reshaping costs through port
fees, tackling safety andworkforce issues or looking
seriously at cargo theft thesearen't one-off stories.
They're threads in a muchbigger picture about supply
(27:19):
chain resilience and America'smaritime future.
What should you be watching?
Well, keep an eye on howcarriers are responding to these
port fees.
We're already seeing a lot ofmessaging saying that there's
not going to be a surcharge.
That comes across as a generalmatter, but pay attention to how
they are assessed Once October14th hits.
But pay attention to how theyare assessed Once October 14th
hits just watch.
I think that it's important tobe informed on what's coming and
(27:42):
then watch the implementation,because it's not necessarily the
carrier's fault.
Right?
These vessels have been intheir fleets for years.
At this point, they didn't knowthat they weren't supposed to
quote unquote be buying Chinesebuilt vessels because China
dominated the market.
Be buying Chinese built vesselsbecause China dominated the
market.
This is all part of a largerstrategy to shift where
purchases are made influence themarket.
(28:03):
We also looked at whether theCoast Guard builds on this
momentum for credentialingreform.
I'd love to see a little bitmore there and how DOT's work on
cargo theft should shift therisk landscape for shippers.
I hope that it does.
I hope that this is thebeginning of an impactful and
actual change in cargo theft andthe way that we combat it.
(28:24):
As always, stay tuned right here.
Sometimes I'll be bringing youthe leaders from across the
industry and sometimes, likeit's just me with a microphone,
breaking it all down in plainlanguage so you can see how the
pieces fit together.
Next week, like I said, I'll bejoined by Caitlin Hardy.
You don't want to miss it.
If you'd like this Captain'sLog edition, be sure to follow,
subscribe and leave a review.
Want to go deeper on thesetopics or bring this kind of
(28:44):
insight to your team?
Visit themaritimeprofessorcomto explore corporate trainings,
tailored briefings and on-demandwebinars, all designed to make
complex maritime regulationspractical and easy to understand
.
And don't forget, thursdayOctober 2nd at noon, I'll be
hosting a just-in-time learningseries.
Mark it on your calendar.
This is the USTR China 301 portfees.
It's going to be titled USTRShip Fee.
(29:06):
Who gets stuck with the bill?
The new dockside toll booth whostops and sails through?
Plain talk, no fine print.
Register atthemaritimeprofessorcom or catch
it later on demand, also atthemaritimeprofessorcom.
And if your organization needshelp navigating the legal or
strategic side of ocean shipping, head over to Squall Strategies
.
That's where I provideconsulting services, regulatory
(29:26):
guidance, legal analysis, policysupport for clients working
directly with the FMC and acrossthe global supply chain.
As always, this podcast is foreducational purposes only.
And as always, this podcast isfor educational purposes only,
not legal advice.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
Until next time, I'm LaurenBegan, the Maritime Professor,
and you've just listened to byLand and by Sea.
See you next time, you.
Ready to go?
You're listening to by Land andby Sea, powered by the Maritime
Professor.
Six big developments reshapingmaritime policy and supply
(00:23):
chains from China's Belt andRoad ports to new US port fees,
crane tariffs, marinercredential reforms, cargo theft
protections and more.
Welcome to my captain's log onby Land and by Sea.
Hi, welcome back to by Land andby Sea, an attorney breaking
down the weakened supply chain.
Presented by the MaritimeProfessor.
I'm Lauren Began, former FMCInternational Affairs Attorney.
Presented by the MaritimeProfessor.
(00:44):
I'm Lauren Began, former FMCInternational Affairs Attorney
and founder of the MaritimeProfessor and Squall Strategies
by Land and by Sea is your go-toresource for navigating the
regulatory side of global oceanshipping and me, well, I'm your
favorite maritime attorney.
Right, I'm here to walk youthrough both ocean transport and
surface transport topics in thewild world of supply chain.
As always, the Guidance ServiceGeneral for educational
(01:06):
purposes only.
It should not be construed tobe legal advice, and there is no
attorney-client privilegecreated by this video or this
podcast.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
This is Plain Language Maritimecreated so that anyone, not
just lawyers and industryinsiders, can understand what's
happening in the world ofshipping.
So let's dive into thisCaptain's Log edition because,
as you know, ocean shippingrules the world.
(01:28):
All right.
Well, captain's Log number oneUS targets China global port
network.
What are we talking about here?
Reuters reported that the USgovernment is mounting its most
ambitious maritime strategysince the 1970s, aimed at
countering China's grip onglobal ports.
Now, what I saw in this articlethere was a few new things, but
it's kind of pulling togetherthe conversation that we've been
(01:50):
having about all these littledeaths by a thousand, cuts, all
these things that the US is nowbolstering the US presence and
bolstering the US strength on,but also is a little bit cutting
away at some of China's grip onthese larger maritime strength
points for them.
So this has been years in themaking through China's Belt and
(02:11):
Road Initiative.
That was China's globalinfrastructure program launched
in 2013.
If you're not familiar, Isuggest you maybe go take a look
at it, see what this Belt andRoad Initiative is all about.
It's been going for what's thatabout?
12 years now.
Look, plain language here.
The Belt and Road Initiative isChina's global building project
.
They help countries finance andconstruct ports, railways and
(02:31):
highways.
But there's kind of a catch, iswhat it seems like.
By footing the bill, chinaoften gets long-term control
over some of the infrastructure,or at least that's what it
seems like, right?
So it's like if the neighborbuilt you a driveway for free
but then kind of keeps the keysto the gate for the next 40
years, or that's how it could beinterpreted.
So in the article they talkabout ports in Greece, sri Lanka
(02:54):
and even the Panama Canal,where China has some interest,
some stakes.
Now that's leverage that Chinacould potentially use.
That's the fear to restrict orredirect global shipping flows
in a crisis, right?
So if something were to happen,potentially China could have
control over these areas.
That might be globally veryimportant.
(03:15):
So the US has been finding waysto get involved in those
conversations, perhaps getinvolved in some of these port
purchases.
We saw that recently with thePanama Canal but they're
treating port access as anational security issue and
finding ways of trying tocounteract perhaps some of this
(03:36):
expansiveness, right?
So if the world trade is ahighway, china's been kind of
buying the tollbooths.
Essentially, right, the USwants to buy some of those back
and at least make sure thatallies own them so that it's not
just one country across theworld who kind of controls these
tollbooths, if you will.
So the FMC angle here in thearticle talks a little bit about
this the Federal MaritimeCommission's choke points
(03:58):
investigation.
I did a whole course on this.
Go check it out if you want tolearn more about this choke
points investigation.
I anticipate that we're goingto be seeing something about
that choke points investigationagain.
It was an investigation wherethey were assessing seven
different choke points andreally anywhere else that
commenters might have thoughtson across the entire globe and
finding out if there were unfairor unreasonable practices
(04:22):
associated with these chokepoints.
Right, there were channels,there were seaways Panama Canal
was on there, look, on paper.
What they wanted to do was findout about the unreasonable and
unfair practices that might behappening.
But really, I mean, what'shappening here is this is a
global look at making sure thatthese tollbooths in our analogy
(04:45):
of world trade aren't quietlytilted against either US
interest, because that's wherethe FMC really is, kind of the
spokesperson for, notspokesperson the referee for.
Just generally, ocean trade cancontinue to move freely and
without unreasonable or unfairinstances involved, right?
(05:11):
So that's what the choke pointsis kind of getting at and that
kind of works into the largerarticle.
Go check out this Reutersarticle.
It's pretty interesting.
It kind of lays out a wholedifferent thing.
There's a few differentstrategies that we haven't seen
otherwise publicly mentionedfrom unnamed administrative
officials.
So it's a pretty interestingarticle.
It came out this week.
It kind of went under the radara little bit, but I think that
(05:31):
you should go check that out.
All right, captain's log numbertwo, breaking down the USTR port
fee.
So the most immediate changewell, the most immediate change
or the most immediate thing thatI want to bring this back up to
is we are less than a monthaway from these port fees being
implemented.
And so, just as a littlereminder, right, these are the
port fees, these are the USTRSection 301 port fees.
(05:55):
And so, starting October 14th,if a ship is operated by a
Chinese company or was built ina Chinese shipyard, it will pay
a new fee when it calls at theUS ports.
These fees don't stay flat.
They actually ratchet upincrementally for the next few
years, at least the next few, Ithink, through 2028.
So what this kind of boils downto if a ship is made in China
(06:19):
or it's owned or operated by aChinese company, you're going to
pay to get back to our toll, atoll to dock in the US that's a
fee, right.
We now have toll yards or youknow, like when you're on the
highway we're collecting feesbased on what kind of carriers
(06:40):
or what kind of vessels arecoming in.
Now I don't think that this isgoing to be a major new line
item, but I say that withcaution.
Carriers are able to kind ofrotate non-China built vessels
out of the US trades or, excuseme, non-china built vessels into
the US trades and China builtvessels out of the US trades.
(07:00):
We've seen that some messagingCMA was doing.
There were some public articlesthat said that CMA was doing
that to try to position theirfleet so that they are less
exposed to some of these portfees that would otherwise ding a
China built vessel Right.
So there's two categories Chinaowned or operated or China
(07:22):
built.
So you could have a Europeancompany who is operating a China
built vessel.
Right, because we know Chinadominates the shipbuilding world
.
But we also know Korea ispretty good at containerized
cargo vessels too.
So there are some of thosevessels out there and others.
But what's happening here iswe're seeing the ocean carriers
(07:43):
maneuvering their fleet so thatyou have the China-built vessels
moving out of the US routes andperhaps moving into the
European routes, because thereisn't the same port fee over
there and they're going to bebringing over their, for example
, korean-built vessels as partof their service lines that call
the US.
Because in containerized cargomovements these are regular
(08:06):
liner service, right, we haven'ttalked about that in a while,
but it's a regular liner servicethat has predictability.
It has a dedicated serviceroute.
This is a kind of airplaneroute that you'll see, but it's
vessels right going throughoutthe entire world.
There's reliability in whatships are designated on those
(08:27):
trade lanes.
But look, here's the thing,even if I don't think that this
is going to be a major new lineitem for shippers, any cost is
unwelcome, right, when importersare already paying for higher
tariffs on their goods.
But I want you to remember thatthis is part of a bigger
picture here.
This is part of a largerstrategy that the US is now
taking.
These fees are designed to pushcarriers away from Chinese
(08:50):
shipyards, right, because look,if every time you drove a
certain brand of car, you had topay an extra toll at these toll
booths right, we're stickingwith the analogy here You'd
eventually stop buying thatbrand and moving toward a brand
that didn't have a tollassociated with it.
So the same logic is here.
These fees aren't just abouttoday's bills and trying to
(09:10):
generate income.
They're about tomorrow's fleetchoices.
They really are trying toimpact market decisions of ocean
carriers that are operatingthese vessels to drive them away
from China built and towardperhaps one of our allies in the
short term.
And the plan is for the US tobe building commercial cargo
(09:31):
vessels in the near.
We'll see what that looks likenear term, and so perhaps it's
Korea tomorrow and perhaps it'sUS beyond that.
And so if we can maneuver awayfrom China built by these fees
and push markets toward ourallies, our friends or perhaps
(09:54):
us when we're ready, that'swhat's happening here.
Look, I'm going to be breakingthis down the fee schedule, how
they're calculated, kind ofwho's exempt.
There's a whole category ofvessels that are exempt, even if
they're China built.
I'm going to be doing that onThursday, october 2nd, at noon
Eastern.
This is going to be part of myJust In Time Learning Live
(10:15):
webinar.
I'm going to walk you throughit, plain English.
So if you're interested inlearning a little bit more
before that October 14thdeadline of the first vessels
coming in, how can you kind ofprotect yourself a little bit.
How can you make sure that youare aware, does your vessel,
that your cargo is moving on?
Does it even have a fee thatshould have been associated with
it?
We're going to break down someof those strategies.
(10:37):
Register atthemaritimeprofessorcom.
If you can't make it live, thecourse will be available on
demand afterwards.
All right, captain's Log numberthree World Shipping Council
Cargo Safety Program.
So the World Shipping Councilthis week announced that they've
launched a first-of-its-kindcargo safety program to address
one of the most serious risks inocean shipping container ship
fires.
We've seen some container shipfire messages, media excuse me,
(11:02):
news articles happening in thepast few years.
This is kind of getting to that.
Right, ship fires are at theirhighest level in more than a
decade.
A major cause, dangerous goodsthat are either undeclared or
misdeclared.
Right Cargo that isn't labeledcorrectly Think lithium
batteries listed as just merelyelectronics.
Look, one bad box can endangerthousands of others, the ship
(11:23):
and the crew, and one of themajor, if not the most dangerous
, thing to happen on a vessel isa fire.
So the new program aims toprevent these disasters by
AI-powered screening.
So using National Cargo Bureautechnology to scan bookings in
real time, flagging high-riskshipments, common inspection
standards, so carriers areapplying the same safety checks,
and an incident feedback loopwhere real-world cases will
(11:47):
strengthen prevention measuresover time At launch.
What World Shipping Council issaying is that carriers
representing over 70% of globalcapacity have already joined
this program.
Joe Kramick, world ShippingCouncil's President and CEO,
said it in the announcement thecargo safety program strengthens
the industry's safety net bycombining shared screening
technology, common inspectionstandards and real-world
(12:09):
feedback to reduce risk.
Plain language this doesn'treplace shippers' legal duty to
declare the dangerous goods.
It just adds another safety net.
Look, fires at sea don't justcause damage.
They take ships out of service,they can sink a ship, they can
tighten capacity for everybodyelse and they can ripple across
(12:30):
global supply chains.
This is an of the people, ships, cargo and ports that Maritime
(12:55):
Administrator Sang-Yi hasmentioned at our first episode
last week.
Now we're going to talk aboutthe mariners here.
The Coast Guard has extendedthe sea service recency period
from three years to seven years.
So what does that mean?
Before this change, if youhadn't sailed in the past three
years, you risk potentiallylosing ground on your license.
If you wanted to expand yourlicense, increase your license
(13:15):
now.
You have seven years beforethat requirement kicks in Now.
This can be a huge relief formariners who perhaps have to
step away for family, shoresidework or military service.
Three years is a really shortperiod of time.
Seven years expansivelyenlarges that.
Now this is a workforce win ata time when every credentialed
mariner matters right.
We heard about that last weekwith our conversation, with
(13:36):
saying that this is a majorissue.
We can build all the ships wewant, but we have to keep
focused on increasing ourmariners available to sail those
ships.
Now I want to give a specialthanks to Nate Gilman, founder
of MMCs.
If you know MMCs, I kind ofconnected that when I was
mentioning this the other dayMerchant Marine Credential MMC,
and then his company is MM-SEASseas like ocean.
(14:01):
Look.
Nate summed it up perfectlythis is what removing barriers
to achieve American maritimedominance looks like in practice
.
He just put out a LinkedIn poston this and I thought that this
was a fantastic summary of notonly the good things that this
creates, going from three yearsto seven years, but he also had
seven ideas for other ways thatwe can kind of get to some of
(14:24):
the reforming of the Marinercredentialing process.
He suggested CAC for TWIC, soC-A-C for TWIC.
Eliminate the redundant andcostly TWIC background check for
federal personnel, immediatelyaccelerating the military to
mariner background.
So what is a CAC card?
It's a common access card orcommon access credential.
That's something that peoplewho work in especially the DOD
(14:47):
already have.
It's one of the most secure IDsand this is kind of the issue.
This is what he's saying.
It's used by military members,dod civilians and contractors
and it contains fingerprints,photos, encrypted data.
If somebody already has a CATcard, they've passed one of the
toughest background checks ingovernment, requiring them to do
another full TWIC check.
I mean, that's redundant, right?
(15:07):
Dropping that duplication wouldimmediately help service
members transition into maritimecareers.
It just makes sense One-to-one.
If not, it's even a strongerbackground check coming over.
The second thing he suggestedwas we all hold CPR or first aid
for work.
Eliminate the wasteful andbrand-specific first aid CPR
(15:28):
prerequisite that causes majordelays in credentialing
processing to streamline theapplication process and reduce
administrative burdens.
So look, mariners are already,for the most part, required to
hold CPR and first aid.
Most people for work arerequired to have CPR and first
aid Not most, but quite a few.
Right, but the Coast Guardsystem requires very specific
brand name courses that cancreate unnecessary delays in
(15:50):
cost, and that's Nate's pointhere.
Standardizing acceptance ofequivalent certifications would
streamline credential processingwithout compromising safety.
These are just simple things,simple little fixes.
The third thing he mentionedwas automatic continuity upon
expiration.
A Mariner's earnedqualification shouldn't vanish
because of a made-up deadlinethat can be fixed in minutes
inside of the USCG currentsoftware.
(16:12):
So the background right now, ifyour credential expires, even
briefly, you can lose thequalifications you worked years
to earn.
The COSAR's own systems couldeasily keep those records intact
.
This fix would ensure that apaperwork lapse doesn't erase
someone's professional standing.
Moving on to number four, wehave Nate saying one fee every
(16:34):
time.
Replace the complex anderror-prone fee structure with a
single flat fee, preventingabsolute cost predictability for
mariners and saving governmentresources.
So right now, the Coast Guard'scurrent fee schedule is a
little confusing, a littleperhaps unpredictable if you
can't understand it, and it canlead to mistakes.
A flat-face system would makethat clear, predictable and
(16:55):
easier to process for both themariners who are applying and
also the Coast Guard.
Number five and, like I said,he's got seven here, so we're
almost wrapping up.
Skills don't expire, he says.
Eliminate the arbitrary recencyrequirement that penalizes
valid experience, creating amore equitable system that
prevents the loss of skilledpersonnel.
Until this latest reform, ifyou hadn't sailed in three years
, you risk losing upgradeopportunities, even if you had
(17:18):
decades of valid experience.
Extending recency to sevenyears helps, but the larger
point is that skills don'tdisappear just because you've
been on shore for a few years,and I think this is something I
call the boomerang effect, wherewe might have mariners who then
go to shore.
For you know, maybe they're I'mgetting out of here.
This is too much for me.
They've been going out to seafor quite a while.
They think I'm never comingback, and then they go.
(17:41):
They build a family.
They come back in maybe 15, 20years, or in 15, 20 years
they're like okay, my kids areoff to college.
I kind of miss that adventureof going off to sea.
But they didn't do a continuityof their license at the time.
Maybe that's what we need.
We need some sort of continuity.
I know I've heard that nurseshave something similar.
During COVID we had some nurseswho were letting their licenses
(18:02):
lapse and then what happened isthey were able to come back
into the field because of alittle change to the licensure
here.
Perhaps that boomerang effectis something that we need and
Nate's point skills don't expire.
I think that's certainlyrelevant here.
If we can do it for nurses, wecan certainly do it for mariners
.
Number six of what Nate said onesea service form.
Mandate a single standard formfor civilian sea service to
(18:26):
eliminate frequent applicationerrors and ensure consistent,
fast and fair evaluations forall mariners.
Look, different companiescurrently use different forms,
which leads to mistakes anddelays in credentialing, and
there can be different forms forwhichever licensure category
that you're applying for.
As I have known every fiveyears with my 50-ton baby
(18:47):
captain's license I call it ababy license right, it is
compared to the unlimitedtonnages that are out there.
I know this well.
I know that every time, everyfive years, I have to go through
and think, okay, what do I need?
What form do I need?
What did I use last time?
Is it the same this time?
I like Nate's point here.
A single standardized formwould bring consistency and
speed to the process, making itfair and perhaps less
(19:08):
frustrating and certainly lesstime consuming.
A fair and perhaps lessfrustrating and certainly less
time consuming.
His last reform suggestion hereone TOS for service members
mandate a single standardizedtranscript of sea service TOS
formed to eliminate theadministrative burden on our
veterans, making the processfaster and more reliable.
So every military branchcurrently has its own version of
a TOS right Transcript of seaservice.
(19:30):
That patchwork system slowsdown applications and creates
confusion.
A standardized TOS would giveveterans a smoother, faster
transition into commercialmaritime careers and perhaps
would make it an easier job ofthe Coast Guard to help our
mariners go from military tomariners.
This is a program out ofMarriott.
It's a fantastic programMilitary to Mariner where we are
(19:50):
trying to transition those whohave sea time, who have sea
service moving over and gettingthem credentialed in the
maritime world as a MerchantMariner credential so that they
can help us, so that they can bepart of our Mariner workforce
that we so desperately need inthis country.
Look, nate's list is all aboutremoving friction, cutting
(20:11):
redundant checks, simplifyingpaperwork, making fees
predictable and honoring validexperience Small fixes here.
I didn't mean to go through thewhole list, but as I was kind
of looking at his list I thoughtthis is incredible.
These are simple things thatcould really happen quickly.
These are simple fixes thatwould make credentialing cheaper
, faster and more reliable.
I mean we can start withlow-hanging fruit.
(20:32):
We don't need to be solving theworld's problems.
We can solve some of thesequick administrative problems
and really speed things up.
Look, think about the DMV.
If your license expired, youwouldn't want to redo driver's
ed just to renew it, right?
These reforms are about cuttingthe same kind of unnecessary
(20:56):
roadblocks for mariners.
And you know, I've never had mylicense expire for my driver's
license, so perhaps perhaps youhave to redo driver's ed.
I'm not sure what it actuallyis, but that's kind of the
equivalency here.
Right?
If your license expired, maybeby a few days, you're probably.
Look, I don't want to go toofar into the DMV, I don't know
the drivering rules, but whatI'm saying here is you didn't
forget how to drive a car, youjust didn't file the paperwork.
(21:17):
Maritime, perhaps there'ssomething there.
All right, story number five onmy captain's log protecting
America's supply chain fromcargo theft.
This is another big one thisweek.
This just came out Departmentof Transportation is seeking
input on cargo theft.
I'm going to say that again theDepartment of Transportation is
seeking input on cargo theft.
They want to know more aboutwhat's happening in the supply
chain.
Cargo theft costs billions everyyear, if not more than billions
(21:39):
.
It can happen at truck stops,intermodal yards, ports,
warehouses it happens all acrossthe country.
And these operations, I meanI've been learning a little bit
more about cargo theft over thepast year or year and a half.
I mean I've been learning alittle bit more about cargo
theft over the past year or yearand a half.
They're very sophisticated.
They could have entirecompanies built up and you would
have no idea that they are partof this cargo theft ring.
(22:01):
Now, imagine if a package wasmissing off your porch.
Now that's annoying, right.
But imagine if an entirecontainer of pharmaceuticals or
electronics vanished en route.
That's the scale of loss thatDOT is trying to prevent.
The RFI, the Request forInformation, is open until
October 20th 2025, and they'reasking for input on where theft
happens most often, whichcommodities are the most
(22:23):
vulnerable, which preventionpractices or technologies are
working, how federal policy canhelp reduce theft without
slowing freight.
Look, the stakes are really highhere.
Cargo theft has been explodingsince COVID.
Shippers can lose cargo valueand face rebooking delays.
They can just lose their entirecargo.
Carriers can suffer higherinsurance premiums and it can be
(22:46):
tough to figure out when andwhere and who did what wrong.
Look, supply chains overall canreally suffer with cargo theft.
Obviously, I'm not sayinganything that you don't know
here, right?
Cargo theft isn't just anuisance, it's a growing crisis.
I am so encouraged to see DOTtrying to illuminate the issue,
getting more information on this.
(23:07):
I know that Commerce has donesome work on this in the past
too, but look, like I said,since COVID, theft has
exponentially increasedOrganized crime rings.
These are sophisticatedorganized crime rings not always
, but you'd be surprised howsophisticated these crime rings
are.
They can target high valueloads like electronics, food,
pharmaceuticals, remote handoffs, stretch trucking capacity.
(23:29):
Labor shortages can createopportunities that thieves can
quickly exploit, and that's whythis DOT RFI, this request for
information, is so important.
By gathering this data, wheretheft is happening, what's being
stolen and what preventionstrategies work.
I mean, that's what they'reasking for.
They want to know from theindustry Whenever an agency is
asking for comments from theindustry.
(23:50):
This is your opportunity, asthough you could have a meeting
with the Secretary ofTransportation himself, sean
Duffy.
This is your opportunity.
Write out what's going on inyour world.
Write out what's happening incargo theft.
Send that information.
This is your written version ofa meeting with Department of
Transportation.
The government has a chance totackle an issue here that
(24:10):
directly raises costs andundermine trust across the
entire supply chain.
I implore everybody here any ofmy listeners take a look at it
at least and consider filingcomments on this one.
They need to know what theydon't know.
They can't help, right, and thegovernment isn't always here to
help, but I would like to seethe government more informed,
based on the actual industryfeedback, on what's going on.
(24:31):
So take a look at this thecargo theft request for
information out of DOT.
All right, this last one thisis just in my captain's log.
We've been getting such a greatfeedback lately on our rebrand
and on our new model and our newapproach and I just want to say
thank you.
I really appreciate everyone'sexcitement right now, right
along with us, right in stepwith the rebrand of by Land and
(24:55):
by Sea.
It shows what a great communitywe have in the maritime world.
I've just been so I felt sosupported here this season.
You'll notice we have arefreshed logo, we have new
visuals, we have the new videointro, we have more guest
conversations happening withpolicymaker, port executives,
supply chain leaders, governmentofficials.
Look, the feedback has beenenergizing.
(25:15):
It tells me that the show isreally resonating with the
community, exactly who it wasbuilt for right.
We're expanding our Just-In-Timelearning courses through the
Maritime Professor.
Many of you joined the recentlive session which was FMC
versus Mar-Ed, and I got so muchgreat feedback on how helpful
the plain language breakdown was.
30 minutes or less that's whatJust-In-Time learning courses
(25:35):
are.
30 minutes or less that's whatjust-in-time learning courses
are.
30 minutes or less you willhave a great understanding of
what the topic is and you'reoften on your way for the day.
If you missed FMC versus MARAD,don't worry, the full course is
actually available on demand.
All of these just-in-timelearning courses, if there's a
live webinar, will thentransition into an on-demand
session that you can go listento the session and find out what
(25:56):
you missed.
If you've ever been confusedabout who does what in US
maritime policy, that FMC vsMARAD was a great course to.
It is a great course to go takea look at and, as our audience
continues to grow, this is theperfect time for organizations
to get involved.
I'm offering partnership andsponsorship opportunities to
connect with this nichehigh-level maritime community.
(26:16):
Email info atthemaritimeprofessorcom to learn
more.
And speaking of conversations,we have a great one next week.
I just had the conversation,this interview I'm going to be
joined with Caitlin Hardy ofNessie.
We're going to be talking aboutUS shipyard policy, kind of
continuing some of theconversation items that we
started with with ActingMaritime Administrator Sang Yee
last week.
(26:37):
We're going to get her thoughtson government investment in
repair and maintenance, the rolegeography plays in national
security, like I said, usshipyard policy, but her
thoughts on innovation and shipbuilding.
She is front and center on alot of these things.
It's going to continue theconversation we started last
week with Acting MaritimeAdministrator Sang-Yi.
You do not want to miss it.
Caitlin Hardy of Nessie, thisis a great conversation.
(26:59):
So that's next week.
So what does this all mean?
It means that the US issteadily tightening its grip on
the maritime space.
All these topics today in thisCaptain's Log whether it's
countering China's influence,reshaping costs through port
fees, tackling safety andworkforce issues or looking
seriously at cargo theft thesearen't one-off stories.
They're threads in a muchbigger picture about supply
(27:19):
chain resilience and America'smaritime future.
What should you be watching?
Well, keep an eye on howcarriers are responding to these
port fees.
We're already seeing a lot ofmessaging saying that there's
not going to be a surcharge.
That comes across as a generalmatter, but pay attention to how
they are assessed Once October14th hits.
But pay attention to how theyare assessed Once October 14th
hits just watch.
I think that it's important tobe informed on what's coming and
(27:42):
then watch the implementation,because it's not necessarily the
carrier's fault.
Right?
These vessels have been intheir fleets for years.
At this point, they didn't knowthat they weren't supposed to
quote unquote be buying Chinesebuilt vessels because China
dominated the market.
Be buying Chinese built vesselsbecause China dominated the
market.
This is all part of a largerstrategy to shift where
purchases are made influence themarket.
(28:03):
We also looked at whether theCoast Guard builds on this
momentum for credentialingreform.
I'd love to see a little bitmore there and how DOT's work on
cargo theft should shift therisk landscape for shippers.
I hope that it does.
I hope that this is thebeginning of an impactful and
actual change in cargo theft andthe way that we combat it.
(28:24):
As always, stay tuned right here.
Sometimes I'll be bringing youthe leaders from across the
industry and sometimes, likeit's just me with a microphone,
breaking it all down in plainlanguage so you can see how the
pieces fit together.
Next week, like I said, I'll bejoined by Caitlin Hardy.
You don't want to miss it.
If you'd like this Captain'sLog edition, be sure to follow,
subscribe and leave a review.
Want to go deeper on thesetopics or bring this kind of
(28:44):
insight to your team?
Visit themaritimeprofessorcomto explore corporate trainings,
tailored briefings and on-demandwebinars, all designed to make
complex maritime regulationspractical and easy to understand
.
And don't forget, thursdayOctober 2nd at noon, I'll be
hosting a just-in-time learningseries.
Mark it on your calendar.
This is the USTR China 301 portfees.
It's going to be titled USTRShip Fee.
(29:06):
Who gets stuck with the bill?
The new dockside toll booth whostops and sails through?
Plain talk, no fine print.
Register atthemaritimeprofessorcom or catch
it later on demand, also atthemaritimeprofessorcom.
And if your organization needshelp navigating the legal or
strategic side of ocean shipping, head over to Squall Strategies
.
That's where I provideconsulting services, regulatory
(29:26):
guidance, legal analysis, policysupport for clients working
directly with the FMC and acrossthe global supply chain.
As always, this podcast is foreducational purposes only.
And as always, this podcast isfor educational purposes only,
not legal advice.
If you need an attorney,contact an attorney.
Until next time, I'm LaurenBegan, the Maritime Professor,
and you've just listened to byLand and by Sea.
See you next time, you.
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