Who Needs An American Merchant Marine?

Should we allow U.S.-flag merchant shipping to go the way of the passenger pigeon, the wooly mammoth and the Great Auk? It will happen in 10 years if steps aren’t taken to prevent it, says maritime industry and homeland security expert Denise Krepp. Former chief counsel to the U.S. Maritime Administration, she currently is a private consultant and professor at The George Washington University and Pennsylvania State University. Krepp joins us in this episode to answer those would argue that government protections for U.S.-flag shipping and domestic shipbuilding are a waste of time and resources. She addresses such controversial measures as the Jones Act, Maritime Security Program and cargo preference for food aid shipments. Without a fresh commitment by Congress and the Administration, she says, the fleet is doomed.