News from The American Maritime Partnership, November 16, 2011
GOVERNOR RICK PERRY STATES SUPPORT FOR JONES ACT: The presidential campaign of Texas Governor Rick Perry said in a statement the Governor supports the Jones Act because the law bolsters national, economic and homeland security. “Rick Perry believes that America benefits from a vibrant domestic maritime industry, including vessel operators, shipyards, seafarers and mariners, on the coasts, in the Gulf, on the inland waters, and throughout the Great Lakes,” the statement said. “Gov. Perry supports the Jones Act that makes the domestic maritime industry strong, contributes to national and homeland security, and makes an important economic contribution to our nation.” Click here to read more.
LEXINGTON INSTITUTE REPORT SAYS JONES ACT VITAL TO NATIONAL SECURITY: The Lexington Institute recently released a report, The Contribution Of The Jones Act To U.S. Security, which says the longstanding maritime law is vital to U.S. economic, homeland, and national security – serving the nation by maintaining a skilled merchant marine, shipbuilding capacity and sea lift capability. “The greatest danger to the role and function of the United States as a seafaring nation is the decline of its maritime industry and merchant marine,” the report says. “Commercial shipyards have made significant investments to modernize, and turn out high-quality vessels with advanced engineering. Moreover, tens of thousands of merchant mariners are at work every day as a consequence of the Jones Act. As a result, the nation retains the means to build and repair Navy vessels, and provide critical sea lift for the military.” The report says U.S.-flagged merchant marine vessels most recently carried cargoes bound for Iraq and Afghanistan and delivered relief supplies to victims of natural disasters around the world.Click here to read more.
MEET A MEMBER: Since 1919, Weeks Marine, Inc. (WMI) has grown into one of the leading marine construction and dredging organizations in the United States. WMI was recently ranked 86th on the “Engineering News-Record” 2011 top 400 contractors list, before the company’s latest acquisition. In July, WMI purchased McNally Construction, a Hamilton, Ontario-based marine contractor specializing in tunneling. McNally will operate independently as a wholly-owned subsidiary. WMI is a fully integrated marine construction company with a vast inventory of construction equipment – 500 cranes, tugs, dredges, barges and other pieces of waterborne equipment – and highly-experienced management, field engineers and equipment operators in all six of its divisions. From a humble beginning as a two crane stevedoring company, family-owned WMI can now be found on any given day dredging a ship channel in the Virgin Islands, performing a salvage operation in the Chesapeake Bay, driving piles in Texas, restoring barrier islands and wetlands in Louisiana, placing sand on a beach in Florida, or building a pier near the St. Lawrence channel.
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