On February 1, 2022, at 1:30 PM ET, the Northeast Maritime Institute – Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE) organized an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., for the launch and discussion of a landmark Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition to support and assist in resolving America’s supply chain crisis, ensure maritime sovereignty and security, and revitalize maritime commerce.

The event featured remarks by Ambassador John D. Negroponte, the first U.S. Director of National Intelligence and former Deputy Secretary of State; the Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Honorable Albert Bryan, Jr.; and President Eric R. Dawicki of the Northeast Maritime Institute.

Following initial remarks outlining the Revitalization Plan, as well as the signing of a historic agreement between the U.S. Virgin Islands and Northeast Maritime Institute by Governor Bryan and President Dawicki, there was a panel discussion. Panel participants included Stephen Flynn, PhD, Founding Director of the Center for Global Resilience at Northeastern University, leading Homeland Security advisor under the Bush and Obama administrations, and global expert on supply chain resilience; Admiral James Watson, Northeast Maritime Institute Trustee and former Director of Prevention Policy for Marine Safety, Security and Stewardship at the United States Coast Guard and the first Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement at the US Department of Interior; Captain Anuj Chopra, Co-Founder & CEO of FNI ESGPlus; Carleen Lyden Walker, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association; and Captain John Konrad, Founder and CEO of gCaptain.

Additional commentary was provided by Nishan Degnarain, former Chairman of the World Economic Forum – Global Agenda Council on Oceans; Jonathan Kempe, Verifai Australia; and Dr. Sal Mercogliano, PhD, Campbell University. These remarks covered topics such as decarbonization of shipping, capital investment in new technologies, supply chain security, transparency in shipping, economic growth opportunities, the status of the US maritime industry, US national security interests, and more.

The event outlined how implementation of the Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition will provide economic stability and environmental protection, as well as revitalize the position of the United States as a major competitor in international maritime trade and commerce while enhancing national security, both domestically and internationally.

A Revitalization Plan for US Maritime Trade, Commerce and Strategic Competition was developed by a team of Distinguished Fellows at the Northeast Maritime Institute – Center for Ocean Policy and Economics (COPE) and advised by an array of leading thinkers in the maritime industry. Key elements of the plan include:

• Formation of the US Virgin Islands’ open international ship registry—the first, and only, international US open ship registry.
• Development of a short sea transshipment hub in the Caribbean to alleviate supply chain congestion by moving a portion of east coast distribution from land to sea and increasing the number of ports importing ever-increasing quantities of goods from overseas.
• Build public/private/international partnerships to address strategic maritime issues, increase transparency and enforce legal and ethical standards.
• Establish and implement a green shipping strategy, including decarbonization of the U.S.-flagged fleet.
• Establishing a Maritime Venture Capital Fund to finance commercially advanced technologies that solve maritime and ocean industry problems with a focus on environmental vulnerabilities.
• Modernization of the maritime workforce by deploying state of the art education and training tools in the US and abroad.