Sean Connaughton Confirmed as Maritime Administrator by U.S. Senate

Published Aug 10, 2006 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

Sean Connaughton was confirmed by the US Senate last Thursday as the country’s new maritime administrator, almost 18 month’s after Captain William Schubert departed the post in February of 2005. Connaughton will step down from his current position as chairman of the Prince William county Board of Commissioners in Virginia. Connaughton is also an attorney with the Washington law office of Troutman Sanders, a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and previously served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1983 to 1986.

Connaughton replaces MARAD chief counsel Julie Nelson, who served in the post in an interim role. Nominated by President Bush on June 27 2006, he is the second individual to be nominated for the vacant MARAD post. In January of this year, the President nominated David Sanborn, DP World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America, to head the Maritime Administration. In the firestorm that followed, DP World's planned purchase of a company that operates six U.S. port terminals became the center of a roiling political controversy. Sanborn, also a King’s Point graduate, saw his nomination was eventually withdrawn; a casualty of the political fallout from the controversial deal.

Connaughton will take over an agency with an annual budget of more than $500 million and a staff of 1,000. The primary mandate for MARAD is to ensure the safe and efficient access for commercial and military ships on U.S. waterways.