U.S. MARAD SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MSP/VISA PROGRAMS

U.S. MARAD SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MSP/VISA PROGRAMS       The Maritime Administration has asked the public to comment on the effectiveness of the agency’s Maritime Security Program and its related Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement Program.
   Approximately 100 liner vessels are enrolled in the MSP. These ships are awarded government subsidies amounting to about $100 million per year, in return for their enrollment in the VISA program, an emergency preparedness program. Under the VISA program, ships and equipment, including logistics operations, are to be made available to the government in times of national emergencies.
   MarAd is seeking comments on how the two programs are working to meet national security goals.
For additional information, contact Raymond R. Barberesi, MarAd’s director of Sealift Support, at (202) 366-2323, or by fax at (202)l 493-2180.
   Written comments in docket number MARAD-2000-7247, are to be submitted to MarAd’s Docket Management Facility, U.S. DOT Dockets, Room PL-401, Department of Transportation, 400-Seventh St. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590-0001 by 5 p.m., June 15. Comments may also be submitted via the Internet at https://dmses.dot.gov/submit.