When Transportation Institute Vice President Sara Fuentes took the stage on Capitol Hill this February, her audience was full of the industry’s future: cadets from maritime academies across the country, gathered in Washington for the final day of the Women on the Water Conference.
A window into maritime advocacy
Fuentes, a self-described maritime evangelist, gave the cadets an honest look at what it takes to advocate for U.S.-flag shipping and American mariners. The merchant marine touches nearly every area of public policy, which means the industry’s advocates track dozens of federal agencies and Congressional committees at once. It also means no single organization can do it alone. As Fuentes explained, labor, management, and government routinely work together, building consensus across sectors before bringing a unified message to Congress.
She pointed to recent challenges the industry has tackled collectively, from cargo preference and the Tanker Security Program to attacks on U.S.-flag vessels in the Red Sea and ongoing personnel shortages. Her message to the cadets was that this breadth is an opportunity: whatever their passion, at sea or ashore, there is a place in maritime for them.
Mariners as quiet heroes
Fuentes closed with the stories that keep her humbled by this industry: the merchant mariners of World War II, the maritime evacuation of Manhattan on September 11, and the crews who kept sailing through the pandemic. Time and again, mariners have answered the call without asking for recognition. In her words, mariners are “a beacon of what true heroes can look like.”
That is the industry these cadets are entering, and it is the industry Transportation Institute has championed since 1967. We could not be prouder to have Sara carrying that message to the next generation.
Coverage of the keynote, including additional remarks, is available from the Seafarers International Union: https://www.seafarers.org/what-true-heroes-can-look-like/