Page 16: of Marine News Magazine (June 2012)

16MNJune 2012INSIGHTSSean T. Connaughton Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of VirginiaSean Connaughton oversees seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. But this transportation professional is perhaps best known to Mar ineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportations Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional pro- grams for the marine transportation industry. This included advising and assisting the Secretary of Transportation on com- mercial maritime matters, operation of over 50 ships in the Ready Reserve Force, supervision of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, oversight of the six State Maritime Academies, and administration of various shipyard and cargo programs. Connaughton was appointed by the President and con- firmed by the Senate. Prior to his current assignment, he served as Corporate Vice President, Government Affairs for the American Bureau of Shipping. Connaughton is a gradu- ate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and served the U.S. Coast Guard as both a commissioned officer and as a civil servant in the Office of Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection. After gaining a Master's degree from Georgetown University, he joined the American Petroleum Institute, representing companies involved in the energy and marine transportation industries, during which time he also earned a law degree from George Mason University. His many honors include the 2009 Vincent T. Hirsh Maritime Award for Outstanding Leadership by the Navy League of the United States and an honorary doctorate in Public Administration from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Connaughton practices what he preaches. As a champion of the nations waterways, mariners and arguably, still the most prominent leader in the effort to jumpstart a flagging, domes- tic shortsea shipping? program, what he has to say always res- onates with the U.S. commercial maritime industry. Our visit with him in May was no different. By Joe Keefe, Editor It has been almost four years since you departed theU.S. Maritime Administration and your post as itschief executive. The nation arguably made great strides during your tenure in terms of moving for- ward on shortsea shipping initiatives. Give us a SITREP of sorts on where you think we are today. Obviously the biggest change since I was in office is the state of the economy. The marine highway concept seemed to be catching on and Congress even provided grant funds to seed various routes. Unfortunately, the economic downturn meant less cargo and more competi- tion from the other modes of transportation making it even harder to start up marine highway operations. That being said, we need to continue to push now to get new operations started so that when the economy recovers they are in a position to provide services.