Transport and Trade 



— recommendations concerning shipboard and shoreside maintenance 



management ; 

 — recommendations for use of mobile, self-powered hydraulic cranes 



on break-bulk cargo liners; 

 — design of a standard propulsion plant adaptable to any combination 

 of maritime nuclear reactor and propulsion machinery currently 

 available; and 

 — demonstration of ship-to-shore voice communication via satellite 

 with a merchant vessel (with cooperation of Navy). 

 The Maritime Administration plans to devote $10.1 million to marine 

 science activities in FY 1970 as follows : 



— studies of new technology to reduce shipbuilding and port costs 



($0.4 million); 

 — research in hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, and structural dynamics 



to reduce ship operating costs ($2.7 million) ; 

 — investigation of new ship concepts to determine the technical and 

 economic feasibility of promising advanced marine vehicles and 

 their associated facilities ($5.8 million) ; and 

 — studies of ship design related to value engineering, ship perform- 

 ance, automation, and new types of equipment ($1.2 million). 

 Contributions of the Coast Guard to facilitating safer maritime shipping 

 practices in 1968 included: 



— static and dynamic experiments, both with models and aboard ship, 

 concerning loading and behavior of bulk grain aboard ship leading to 

 revision of international regulations concerning such cargoes; 

 — completion of studies and consultations with private interests dem- 

 onstrating the need for legislation requiring bridge-to-bridge radio 

 telephone communications capabilities for certain classes of vessels; 

 — beginning of construction of a shipboard fire safety testing facility in 

 Mobile, Alabama, and U.S. acceptance of new international fire 

 safety standards for ship design; 

 — inspections of several vessels under construction in foreign shipyards 

 for U.S. registry to facilitate certification on arrival in the United 

 States; and 

 — development of standard survival-at-sea packages together with 

 aerial sighting and delivery systems. 

 Also, legislation was introduced (S. 3751 and H.R. 18537) to update and 

 unify all the various U.S. Rules of the Road that have evolved during the 

 past 100 years, and the International Load Line Convention entered into 

 force in 1968. 



A new system of sea lanes, similar to divided highways and designed to re- 

 duce the incidence of collision in dense traffic areas, was established in the 

 Southern California area on January 1, 1969, following successful experi- 



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329-466 O — 69 9 



