DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL TO AUDIT TITLE XI LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM

DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL TO AUDIT TITLE XI LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM    The U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General has launched an audit of the Maritime Administration’s Title XI loan guarantee program.
   The goal of the audit, which was requested by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Appropriations Committee, is to assess the impact of American Classic Voyages Co.’s bankruptcy filing on Oct. 19 on its Title XI loan guarantees. The company currently has approved loan guarantees of more than $367 million at risk.
   “We will determine what immediate actions, if any, the Department of Transportation and MarAd can take to better protect the interests of the United States,” said Thomas J. Howard, DOT’s deputy assistant inspector general for maritime and highway safety programs in a memo to the acting deputy maritime administrator.
   The Inspector General will also conduct a “comprehensive review” of the Title XI program to determine if procedures for submission, review, approval and monitoring of selected Title XI loan guarantees comply with applicable laws and regulations, and if these procedures are adequate and correctly implemented to protect U.S. interests.
   “The audit will be conducted primarily at MarAd headquarters,” Howard said. “However, we will also visit selected companies that have received approved Title XI loan guarantees and shipyards where their ships are being built.”