Sealift partners meet at Piney Point for bi-annual meeting

PINEY POINT, Md. — The Seafarers International Union (SIU) hosted the Sealift Executive Working Group (SEWG) at the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education August 22.

Co-chaired by USTRANSCOM Deputy Commander Army Lt. Gen. Jered Helwig and the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Acting Associate Administrator for Strategic Sealift, Doug Harrington, the discussion body focused on strengthening strategic relationships between the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Transportation (DOT) and commercial maritime partners.

By design, the SEWG solicits open dialogue from individual attendees, informing the conversation about maritime objectives and the strategies to face emerging challenges.

“The safety and security of our shipping industry and our mariners require a united and proactive approach,” said Helwig, as the SEWG opened.

More than 60 government and maritime industry executives discussed sealift the current state of operations, industry capacity, and manpower.

The U.S. military ships approximately 300,000 containers per year between domestic ports and overseas locations. Commercial ships carry about 90% of that load. Over the last year, commercial industry delivered 90% of DoD cargo on-time, often utilizing diverse port options that were new to the U.S. military.

“Your input is extremely valuable to the national maritime strategy and to each of us in the room,” said Harrington.

The merchant marine workforce, many of whom train at the Paul Hall Center, are a key piece of that strategy. Augie Tellez, SIU’s Executive Vice President said classes at the facility are currently filled for next year.

While SIU’s data base, which helps match union members with jobs at sea, contains more than ten thousand merchant marines, there were many more prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. SIU has been actively re-connecting with merchant mariners who left during that period while simultaneously focusing on retention.    

“Retention is augmented now by changing the way [the mariners] get paid, the way they’re treated, and the way they can now move up a lot.” said Tellez.

As the meeting drew to a close, Helwig cited the importance of the close relationships between USTRANSCOM, MARAD, the National Defense Transportation Association, and industry partners. 

“We can’t do what we do without having this synergy,” he said. “I really appreciate the dialogue as we continue to work together. We have to keep getting after it, none of [these issues] are easy.”

In addition to the SEWG, USTRANSCOM also co-hosts a surface EWG for land-based transportation, and a Civil Reserve Airlift Fleet (CRAF) EWG for strategic airlift.