Page 95: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1998)

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Now Get To Work

Less than a month on the job, new

Maritime

Administrator Clyde

J. Hart Jr. was testify- ing before the

Committee on

Commerce, Science and

Transportation regard- ing The Freedom To

Transport Act of 1998 (S. 2390), which is designed to eliminate the U.S.-build stipulation from the Jones

Act. Mr. Hart made it clear that the

Maritime Administration fully supports the

Jones Act as an essential element to the nation's maritime policy, it's importance stretching beyond the commercial viability of shipyards and extending to national security and environmental protection matters. "In a typical year, domestic waterborne shipping in the United States moves 24 per- cent of U.S. intercity cargo on a ton mile basis for less than two percent of the freight bill. It provides an estimated 124,000 direct jobs that produce $1.7 billion in federal and state tax revenue on wages and corporate income, and generates $10 billion in annual freight revenue," Mr. Hart testified.

He pointed to a letter by Assistant

Secretary of the Navy John Douglas, which stated that the Navy strongly supports the

Jones Act and opposes any changes to the law.

The core of Mr. Hart's reasoning for leav- ing the act intact is that, he claims, if S. 2390 were enacted, U.S. vessel owners and opera- tors would — virtually overnight — find themselves in direct competition with cheap- er, often subsidized, foreign-built, foreign- owned vessels, that have no long-term com- mitment to U.S. shippers or to U.S. national security interests.

Talleres Navales del Golfo, S.A. de C.V.

January 1998: Audited by Lloyd's for ISO-9002 and recommended for certification

The most important shipyard in Mexico.

Timely and safe services with competitive prices. • All types of ship repairs • Ship construction • Construction and repair of offshore structures • Tank cleaning and coating services • Two graving docks • 1250m of docks for repairs and fitting out

Islote San Juan de Ulua S/N 91800 Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico

Telephone (52-29) 89-25-09 / 89-25-35 / 89-25-04

Fax (52-29) 89-25-10 / 89-25-00

INTERNET ADDRESS: [email protected]

Circle 204 on Reader Service Card "Datron proved it can stand up to the harsh marine environment. That's one reason ACBL has more than 40 systems in use today." "The marine environment is punishing.

Anything we use on board has to stand up to harsh weather conditions and extreme vibration. When I first saw the

Datron unit, it was sleek, good looking and not what you traditionally expect,

After months of trouble-free performance,

I was convinced. We now have almost 50 in use system wide, They continue to perform very well, with no weather or vibration-related problems."

The Datron DBS-4000 In-Motion

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Circle 351 on Reader Service Card

V. Ships Names New Manager

The former Operations Manager for V. Ships

Leisure (Monaco), Jim Barreiro de Leon, has been appointed Manager of Hotel Operations and Passenger Services at V. Ships Marine, Ltd. (Mineola, NY). Mr. Barreiro de Leon will be in charge of establishing the Hotel Operations

Department, overseeing hotel operations for V.

Ships' client New Commodore Cruise Line, Ltd.

Sigma Coatings Issues Revised TRIS

The Tankcoating Resistance Information

Service (TRIS) has been updated to list detailed resistance of the Sigma Tankcoating range for more than 6,000 liquid cargoes. Guidelines for tank ventilation practices and approved tank cleaning chemicals are also included in the new version which runs in Windows 95, 97 and NT.

Designed for shipowners, management compa- nies, charterers and consultants, the TRIS is also available as a hard copy reference tool. "Datron is Tough and Good Looking!"