Humanitarian Food Aid Reform May Hurt Merchant Marine

All Things Considered:

Over the past quarter-century, the Merchant Marine has hit one obstacle after another. Rising labor costs in the U.S. made U.S. mariners less competitive and environmental laws raised the cost for U.S.-flagged ships.
The past year has been especially tough. First, sequestration cuts threatened to cut off funding for the 80 ships that are currently supported by the U.S. military, which depends on the Merchant Marine to transport vital war supplies.
Now, a proposed change in the U.S. food aid programs threatens to further reduce funding. Currently, the U.S. government buys millions of dollars of food here in the U.S. and ships it abroad on American vessels.
Chris Barrett, who researches economics at Cornell University, says the U.S. food aid programs were created in 1954 to dispose of government-held commodity surpluses.
"It turned out that the main thing could really accomplish with food aid besides surplus disposal was humanitarian assistance," Barrett says. "It was a very effective vehicle for responding to emergencies that resulted from natural disasters."
Barrett says the proposed change would allow the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to shop locally for food aid. It would be able to purchase up to 45 percent of food aid for developing countries in local markets. That would essentially divert purchases from the American market. And less food coming directly from the U.S. would mean less shipping for the Merchant Marines.

The story is pretty interesting.  Good to know that humanitarian food aid was a way to support farmers and sailors.

In a somewhat related story, John Tierney visits Maine Maritime Academy, one of seven maritime academies in the country, where the outlook is more positive for the merchant marine:

Increasing numbers of MMA students come to study marine science and marine biology, many doing a dual-degree option in small-vessel operations, which prepares them to work in various fields of ocean science where they may also need the capability to operate small research craft (“small” here means vessels not over 200 gross tons).  That particular combination is very popular and, one professor told me, “golden” in its career prospects.
And that’s the point. Whatever their course of study, young people enroll here because they know their education will prepare them for a career, typically a quite lucrative one. MMA understandably boasts that each year it places more than 90 percent of its graduating class in professional employment or graduate studies within 90 days of graduation, many of those with starting salaries over $100,000. At a recent career fair on campus, 80 companies showed up to recruit MMA students, many of whom already have firm job offers well before they’re seniors.

Maine Maritime got mentioned on the blog previously for their run-oriented football team.  I did not realize there were seven maritime academies in the U.S.