U.S. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION TO MAKE RESEARCH A PRIORITY

U.S. MARITIME ADMINISTRATION TO MAKE RESEARCH A PRIORITY    The U.S. Maritime Administration said Friday it would devote more resources to promote and coordinate research that can help the U.S. maritime industry become more competitive.
   Last year the agency reported to Congress that investment in research by various government agencies and private sector groups involved with the maritime industry is very low compared with investments in other modes of transportation.
   'It is time to return the U.S. to the position of a world leader in maritime research and innovation. We can no longer sit by watching our industry continue to fall behind the state-of-the-art of maritime transportation,' Maritime Administer William Schubert said in a statement.
   MARAD has created a new Web portal to allow industry and government to share and assess ideas, developments and research priorities. The Web site, https://www.marad.dot.gov/Research, is not yet open to the public.