Blog

Who controls America's waterways? It sounds like a question with an obvious answer, but a recent episode of the Maritime Nation podcast from the Center for Maritime Strategy makes the case that it is anything but settled. What the episode covers In the season five opener, host Admiral James Foggo... read more →

In late 2025, the U.S. Trade Representative made a decision that split the maritime industry: a one-year suspension of the new port fees on Chinese-linked vessels, just weeks after those fees had taken effect. The background The fees grew out of a Section 301 investigation into China's state-backed shipbuilding dominance,... read more →

Advocating for American maritime means showing up wherever transportation policy is being shaped. That is why Transportation Institute Vice President of Government Affairs Sara Fuentes joined members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and transportation leaders from across the country for a roundtable on the infrastructure challenges facing Latino communities. About... read more →

When the Transportation Research Board convened its Marine Transportation System conference at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, the opening conversation went straight to the heart of the industry: what are the safety and security challenges that keep maritime leaders up at night? A seat on... read more →

America needs more mariners. So why does the path to becoming one still run through a licensing exam built for a different era? The problem with the current exam Aspiring merchant marine officers already prove their competence through years of hands-on training and assessments. Then they prove it all over... read more →

When Congress moved to increase funding for the United States Coast Guard, the American maritime industry spoke up in support, and Transportation Institute helped lead the way. The letter The American Maritime Partnership, the largest legislative coalition in the history of the U.S. maritime industry, sent a formal letter of... read more →

Every so often a publication comes along that pulls the whole American maritime story into one place. Returning from Ebb Tide: Renewing the United States Commercial Maritime Industry, the first book from the Navy League's Center for Maritime Strategy, is one of those. And it is available as a free... read more →

When one of the nation's most influential economics podcasts decided to tackle the Jones Act for the first time, Transportation Institute was there to make the case. The debate Bloomberg's Odd Lots, hosted by Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway, recorded the episode in front of a packed live audience at... read more →

For seventy years, the Food for Peace program has carried American-grown food to people facing hunger around the world, reaching more than 4 billion people in 150 countries. What is less widely known is who carries it: American ships, crewed by American mariners. The maritime connection Under the Cargo Preference... read more →