an effort to identify specific impediments to U.S.-flag 
expansion in the bulk trades, to recommend initia- 
tives to improve performance in this area, and to 
make known to those not fully familiar with the U.S. 
maritime program the aids already available to bulk 
shipping. The conference generated 36 recommenda- 
tions, which have led to several administrative ac- 
tions to improve the MarAd bulk shipping effort. In 
addition, a package of legislative proposal relating to 
bulk shipping is being developed. 
To assure the availability of a well-trained work- 
force for the U.S. merchant marine, the Maritime 
Administration conducts a number of programs for 
manpower training and development. In addition, 
MarAd assists in labor-management negotiations, 
serving as a neutral source of information for both 
labor and management, in an effort to facilitate the 
peaceful settlement of disputes and avoid disruptive 
strikes.°* : 
Under the provisions of Section 216 of the Mer- 
chant Marine Act, the Maritime Administration 
maintains the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at 
Kings Point, N.Y., which provides students with a 
college education and the training necessary to as- 
sume positions as officers in the merchant marine 
upon graduation. In addition, Federal assistance is 
also provided to support training for merchant ma- 
rine officers at six State maritime schools. Authority 
for this program is contained in «the Maritime 
Academy Act of 1958. Brac 
Beyond these officer training assistance programs, 
the Maritime Administration also supports several 
other marine training activities. Five radar training 
centers are operated around the country under joint 
MarAd-Coast Guard sponsorship and are available 
for use by qualified merchant seamen, inland water- 
way, offshore drilling, and mining vessel operators, 
maritime academy students, and NOAA and Coast 
Guard personnel. Firefighting and fire damage con- 
trol courses are given by MarAd and the Navy’s 
Military SeaLift Command. And finally, the recently 
opened Computer-Aided Operations Research Facil- 
ity (CAORF) *° at Kings Point, although primarily 
a research facility, is expected to yield substantial 
auxiliary training benefits to the ship operating 
industry. 
In conjunction with the developing trade between 
the United States and the Soviet Union, the Mari- 
* A principal service provided by MarAd during labor-man- 
agement negotiations is access, by ali parties, to the computer- 
based Maritime Contract Impact System (MCIS) which pro- 
vides rapid calculation and evaluation of the impact of changes 
in base wages and fringe benefits. 
*° CAORF, developed and operated under the MarAd research 
and development program, provides a full-scale mockup of a 
vessel bridge with computer equipment designed to simulate the 
Operating characteristics of various vessels under a wide variety 
cf operating conditions. This facility is designed principally as 
a research tool to test and analyze new operating procedures, 
port configurations, and equipment, and to assess human tre- 
actions under various normal and abnormal operating conditions. 
time Administration has played a major role in nego- 
tiating and implementing the shipping agreements 
governing these trades. On October 14, 1972, U.S. 
and Soviet officials signed a major 3-year maritime 
agreement which provided a general framework and 
established a set of ground rules governing mari- 
time relations between the two nations. Modified and 
extended for another 6 years in 1975, the objec- 
tives of both the original and extended agreement 
were to open the channels of maritime commerce 
between the two nations by opening major U.S. and 
Soviet commercial ports to specified kinds of U.S. 
and Soviet-flag vessels and to provide vessels of each 
country with an opportunity to participate equally 
and substantially in the carriage of all waterborne 
cargoes moving between the two nations. In defining 
the substantial share of cargoes to be carried by the 
vessels of the Soviet Union and the United States, 
the agreement sets forth the intention of each coun- 
try to provide its vessels with an opportunity to 
carry not less than one-third of all cargoes moving 
in the trade. The remainder of the trade is available 
to vessels of other flags. 
In implementing this agreement, bulk carriage 
freight rates for the U.S.-flag share of agricultural 
cargoes exported from the United States to the Soviet 
Union have been periodically renegotiated to assure 
that U.S. vessels carry the one-third share allotted 
to them at charter rates which provide a reasonable 
return to the U.S. operator (after receipt of operat- 
ing subsidy), but which do not impede U.S. grain 
sales. Essentially, U.S. negotiators have sought rates 
equivalent to those which would have to be obtained 
by foreign carriers in order to continue long-term 
profitable operations. When an operating differential 
subsidy, paid by the U.S. Government, is added to 
this revenue to offset the U.S./foreign cost differ- 
ential, the U.S. operator is assured an opportunity 
for profitable participation. At the same time, the 
Soviet Union pays a reasonable price for the ship- 
ping service. 
‘During periods when grain exports to the Soviet 
Union are large, this trade can provide a major 
source of employment for U.S.-flag bulk carriers. As 
a primary participant in negotiations relating to the 
terms governing shipping services in this trade, the 
Maritime Administration helps assure that U.S. op- 
erators have a fair chance to take full advantage of 
this important trade opportunity. WOH 
In support of its national security mission, the 
Maritime Administration maintains the National 
Defense Reserve Fleet and carries out a variety of 
planning and readiness functions designed to assure 
the adequacy and timely availability of shipping and 
shipbuilding resources in the event of war or other 
national emergency. Over the years, the number of 
ships maintained in the reserve fleet has declined 
dramatically and, as of June 20, 1977, the NDRF 
V-41 
