Bill proposes $300 million for Title XI

Bill proposes $300 million for Title XI    A bill that would authorize $100 billion to the Navy for shipbuilding over the next five years, would also appropriate $300 million for the Maritime Administration’s Title XI shipbuilding loan program for merchant ships.
   The National Shipbuilding Budget Policy Act, was introduced last week by Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., co-chair of the Congressional shipbuilding caucus, who describes himself on his Congressional Web site as a “staunch advocate for a robust Naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry.” The First Virginia District, which he represents, includes parts of Newport News, home of Northrop Grumman’s large shipyard, and the Tidewater region of the state boasts a number of ship repair yards.
   The program proposes spending $20 billion in each fiscal year from 2011 until 2015 for the Navy ships and $60 million in each of the same fiscal years for the Title XI program.

Matsuda

   In testimony to the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation in February, acting Maritime Administrator David T. Matsuda said the current Title XI subsidy balance for new loans was $78 million, comprised of carryover funding and funds provided in the 2010 appropriation, He said the funding would enable MarAd to issue commitments to worthy applicants in 2011 and the fiscal year 2011 request proposes funding of just $3.7 million for the administration of the Title XI guaranteed loan portfolio.
   Wittman’s proposal for funding comes in the wake of several Title XI defaults including that of the tanker company AHL Shipping in January and the Hawaii Superferry in 2009.
   The Hawaii Superferry got a $139.7 million loan guarantee in 2005 and only one of the ferries operated intermittently from December 2007 to March 2009. The company filed for bankruptcy, after it was prohibited from operating because it did not have necessary environmental permits.
   AHL had received a $139.3 million loan guarantee in 1995 to give four tankers double hulls so they would be compliant with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. ' Chris Dupin