Navigating the Federal Shutdown

“Navigating Maritime Policy in the 21st Century” was the theme of the 87th Annual International Propeller Club Conference last week in Washington. Andrew Riester, the Club’s Executive Vice President, should have been proud of the agenda and speaker list, which consisted largely of agency brass and top congressional staffers. However, on the day before the convention opened the U.S. government shut down, furloughing about 800,000 workers deemed non-essential and suspending services not exempt under the Antideficiency Act.

Suddenly Riester was staring at gaping holes in the speaker lineup on the very day attendees began arriving from around the world. To say he was up the proverbial creek without a paddle would be an understatement, but the federal shutdown was a gift that kept on giving as the tours to the memorials, monuments and museums were canceled as well.

It is hard to imagine what Riester felt as U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx; MARAD Acting Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, Sr.; Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger, USCG, Deputy Commandant of Operations; Rear Admiral Steven Poulin, USCG, Director, Governmental & Public Affairs; Anne Wehde, Director of Maritime Workforce Development, MARAD; Chris Thayer, Director, Contractor Operated Ships, MSC; Stephen Sadler, Assistant Administrator for Intelligence & Analysis, TSA; Kevin Tokarski, Associate Administrator for National Security, MARAD; and Dave Heller, Director, Small Shipyard Grant Program, MARAD all canceled on October 1 because they were federal employees.

The afternoon session on October 2 was supposed to be held in Room 902 of the Hart Senate Office Building, but there were no federal employees available to manage the room. Riester cancelled the buses and served box lunches (meant for the ride over to Capitol Hill) outside the meeting room. Riester also had to find a replacement for Dan Neumann, Minority staff for the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation & Merchant Marine Infrastructure, who had to bow out as well.

“The Bench Was Deep”

“The bench was deep,” said Riester. “And a lot of our members work with policy makers and know the subject just as well.”

John Rayfield, Majority Staff Director, House Coast Guard & Maritime Subcommittee, who was also scheduled for the Hart Building meeting, made his way over to the Hyatt Regency and spoke to the crowd. So, did John Anderson, Staff Director, House Subcommittee Water Resources and Environment, who was joined by Jim Sartucci of K&L Gates and Amy Larson, President of National Waterway Conference on the first panel of the day. Craig Montesano, Director of Legislative Affairs for the American Waterways Operators joined Rayfield on the second panel as did two K&L partners – Darrell Connor, Government Affairs Counselor, and Mark Ruge, Co-Chair of Public Policy and Law.  

The President’s Reception, held on “The Flying Bridge” of MEBA’s headquarters in Washington D.C., offered an incredible view of the Capitol Dome. The organization’s officers, including President Stephen “Sonny” Smith, Jr., Capt. San Juan Dunbar of Portland, ME, Hugo Geerts of Antwerp, Belgium, Darrell Conner of Washington, D.C., Capt. Bill Van Voorhis of Portland, ME, Candy Nigretto of Tacoma, WA, Timothy Shusta of Tampa, FL., and Jack Crockett of Port Canaveral, FL, mixed with the attendees and guests. For Riester the weather and scenery were magnificent, but he had to be contemplating what the next fiasco might be.

While the morning session on October 3 had three key government officials bail out, William Kenwell, SVP and CCO of Maersk Line, Don Marcus, President of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, and Jim Caponiti, Executive Director of the American Maritime Congress, kept the National Security & Maritime Transportation session moving forward.

Matt Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America, Frank Foti, CEO of Vigor Industrial, Rear Admiral David Lewis, USN, Program Executive Director for Ships, and Jon Kaskin, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy, held a vibrant discussion on U.S. shipbuilding. Joe Cox, President and CEO of the Chamber of Shipping of America, gave an eloquent luncheon keynote address in place of Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger, USCG, Deputy Commandant for Operations, who couldn’t make the event as well. 

John Parrott, President of Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Rear Admiral Gerard Achenbach, USNS, Superintendent of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Mario Cordero, Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, Bart Rogers of Seafarers International, Roy Bleiberg, Director of U.S. Gas Development at ABS, Dave Brown, Vice President of Human Resources at Ingram Barge, and Amy Larson, President of the National Waterways Council, were significant in moving the agenda forward as well. And Dr. Felix Leinemann, First Secretary of Transport for the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, discussed the EU’s policies and transportation initiatives and where there might be collaborative efforts.

The 87th Annual Convention proceeded and concluded over the few days on a lot of high notes considering the federal shutdown could have devastated a whole year of planning by Riester and his fellow officers. But in the end, Riester must have heard John Lennon say, “There are no problems, there are only solutions.”

The 2014 Annual Convention will be held October 14-17 in Louisville, Kentucky. – MarEx