Washington Waves: Waterway News From D. C.
A $567-million boost for the Maritime Administration (MarAd), $538 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program and $732 million to support President Donald Trump’s Maritime Action Plan were among key provisions in a major spending bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee.
With a vote of 34 to 27, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Renewal bill now goes to the full House for a floor vote.
Funding for MarAd in fiscal year 2027 totaled $1.483 billion.
Republicans said the bill included provisions to support America’s maritime dominance through investments in the maritime workforce.
Democrats focused many of their comments on the bill’s housing provisions but claimed the Republicans failed to address transportation needs such as improving supply chains.
Training Guidelines
The Office of Merchant Mariner Credentialing published Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 01-26, Guidelines for Coast Guard-Approved Training, to streamline the process of obtaining Coast Guard approval of required training for a merchant mariner credential and reduce the administrative burden on maritime training providers.
Changes made by the NVIC include:
• Reducing the documents required to be submitted with a request for course or program approval
• Reducing the records a training provider is required to maintain
• Reducing the documents required to be submitted when requesting renewal of a course or program approval
• Reducing the number of internal audits a training provider must conduct
• Avoiding lapses in course or program approval if a timely request is made and the original approval expires before a final decision on the renewal request is made
The announcement also included the cancellation of NVIC 03-14, Guidelines for Approval of Training Courses and Programs, COMDTPUB 16721.
NVIC 01-26 is available on the Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars website.
Mariners and other interested parties should contact the Mariner Credentialing Program Policy Division at MMCPolicy@uscg.mil or 206-815-6890 with any questions or feedback.
Corporate Citizenship
The Maritime Administration (MarAd) issued its final rule on simplifying and modernizing the process of establishing U.S. citizenship of corporations and other business formations participating in the agency’s programs.
Effective June 4, the final rule also will eliminate the requirement to provide dates and places of birth of corporate executives, directors and stock owners as required in the current form of affidavit of citizenship in the interest of minimizing the unnecessary disclosure of personally identifiable information.
It also will amend the form of affidavit with respect to entities that are publicly traded by eliminating the requirement to provide certain information regarding registered owners of stock, eliminate the notarization requirement and provide a simple and streamlined process for recertification.
For additional information, contact Michael Pucci at 202-366-5167 or Michael.Pucci@dot.gov.
MarAd Claims Filing
The Maritime Administration (MarAd) announced it is revising its regulations regarding the filing of claims and the administrative allowance or disallowance of claims filed by officers or members of crews employed on vessels owned, operated or chartered by MarAd.
Effective June 5, the rule will correct numerous citations in accordance with the codification of title 46 of the United States Code, improve accessibility by modernizing text and updating agency contact information and remove obsolete references.
For additional information, contact Mitch Hudson at 202-366-9373 or Mitch.Hudson@dot.gov.
Remote, Unmanned Guidance
The Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy (CG-5P) announced the publication of new Work Instruction (WI) to provide direction and guidance to Captains of the Port (COTPs) and Officers in Charge, Marine Inspection (OCMI) evaluating operations involving unmanned, autonomous or remote-controlled maritime technologies within the Marine Transportation System (MTS).
Ttled Oversight of Unmanned, Autonomous and Remote-Control Operations (5P-WI-002(1)), the WI addresses three distinct types of operations:
1. Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS): not subject to Coast Guard inspection and not carrying passengers for Hire.
2. Uninspected Passenger Vessels (UPV): COTPs and OCMIs shall forward requests to test or operate UMS for any UPV as defined in 46 U.S.C. 2101.
3. Inspected Vessels: COTPs and OCMIs shall forward requests to test or operate UMS for any vessels required to be inspected under 46 U.S.C. 3301.
To ensure Coast Guard-wide consistency, 5P-WI-002(1) streamlines how COTPs and OCMIs process requests to test autonomous and remote-control systems on vessels.
For questions regarding the WI, contact CG-CVC@uscg.mil and for questions regarding testing or deployment of unmanned, autonomous or remote-controlled systems, contact the local COTP/OCMI.
Hudson River Anchoring
The Coast Guard is accepting comments on its proposal to amend regulations to prohibit vessel anchoring on the reach of the Hudson River between Yonkers, N.Y., and Kingston, N.Y., per the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026.
Comments must be received by August 7.
They may be submitted via https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. USCG-2026-0042.
For additional information, contact Craig Lapiejko at 571-607-6314 or Craig.D.Lapiejko@uscg.mil.
Severe Weather Safety Zone
The Coast Guard is accepting comments on its proposal to establish a safety zone in the navigable waters within the Sector Mobile Captain of the Port (COTP) zone to be enforced in the event of hurricanes, tropical storms and other severe weather events.
Comments must be received by July 6 and may be submitted via https://www.regulations.gov under Docket No. USCG-2024-0465.
For additional information, contact Chief Petty Officer Stacy Stevenson at 251-382-8653 or Sectormobilewaterways@uscg.mil.
