Business View Magazine - May 2024

maritime industry. One of the biggest challenges over the last few years has been overcoming the public perception of overwhelmed ports – as either the cause or result of the COVID-19 supply chain crisis. MARAD continues to work with all stakeholders, such as ocean and inland waterways carriers, terminal operators, trucking companies, freight forwarders, and warehouse providers, enlisting their ideas on fostering the maritime industry. This outreach is reinforced through the promotion of several grant programs administered by MARAD. These include the Port Infrastructure and Development Program (“PIDP”), the Small Shipyard Grant Program, and the United States Marine Highway Program. Eligible industry of the United States to meet the nation’s economic and security needs”. MARAD’s focus continues to be the support and promotion of the nation’s waterborne transportation system. This encompasses a variety of functions including enhancing the nation’s maritime infrastructure via federal grants for port and intermodal improvements, supporting small shipyard projects that make capital and related improvements, promoting the use of the nation’s marine highways and navigable waterways, providing loan guarantees to U.S. built, owned, operated and flagged merchant vessels, operating the U.S.Merchant Marine Academy, and operating and maintaining the “Ready Reserve” fleet, a set of multi-purpose vessels poised to support national security requirements. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (“BIL”), signed into law by President Biden in November 2021, invests $16.7 billion to improve infrastructure at coastal ports, inland ports and waterways, and land ports of entry along the nation’s borders 1 . The increased funding allows USDOT, MARAD, and other federal agencies to consider a wider variety of improvements over a greater range of facilities and geographical areas. The result is increased interest in maritime improvements from a more diverse set of stakeholders, such as small ports, ports in tribal areas, as well as ports in rural or economically disadvantaged areas. The nation’s maritime industry is undergoing a renaissance due to a combination of BIL funding and large-scale technological improvements. The “lessons learned” from the port congestion and supply chain crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic is realigning how ports, terminals, and intermodal carriers handle containerized and “break-bulk” cargoes. Due to USDOT, MARAD, and other federal agencies’ funding, ports are improving cargo storage and conveyance to and from docks and piers, addressing long-deferred maintenance of maritime infrastructure, increasing port capacity, and addressing cargo handling equipment needs. This historical investment in maritime infrastructure, as well as operational improvements to the supply chain learned through the COVID-19 crisis, will assist in the continuous transformation of the nation’s 165 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 05 MARAD