E35 – US Merchant Marine

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Mike and Jake host Captain John Konrad to talk all things

Merchant Marine.

We talked about the Merchant Marine Academy, being a

merchant mariner, and how they fit into national security.

What is the Military Sealift Command thing, and why does it keep confusing the counting of Navy ships? What is the Jones Act, and why is it so political?

The US has a ghost fleet of ships staged on both US coasts in case WWIII kicks off—but where are the people? Who were the most famous merchant mariners?

What went wrong with the USS Bonhomme Richard fire response? Why is Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge still not cleaned up?

Which US military branch is the biggest merchant mariner

customer? Hint….its NOT the Navy.

Tune in for answers to all of the above—and more!

John is the founder and CEO of gCaptain and author of

Fire on The Horizon. He is licensed to captain the world's largest ships, has sailed from ports worldwide, and managed billion-dollar offshore construction projects in some of the world's harshest marine environments.

This episode is PACKED with intel, but we still had some fun along the way. You should expect nothing less!

For those interested in #military #navy #mariner #sealift

#warfare #shipping #nationalsecurity #defense #nationaldefense

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Show Notes

(01:21) Intro

(03:01) larger than aircraft carriers

(04:15) Military Sealift Command

(05:30) peacetime vs wartime

(06:18) WWII merchant mariners

(09:54) counting ships

(10:58) US-flagged ships

(11:25) Captain Phillips

(11:48) the shift away from US flags

(12:17) 85 of 50,000 ships

(13:10) The Jones Act

(14:57) railway to nowhere

(18:02) where are the people?

(20:28) Secretary Pete

(21:00) manning crisis

(23:59) 3,000 people short

(25:56) WWIII

(27:46) divested support ships

(28:58) USS Cole attack

(29:51) USS Bonhomme Richard fire

(31:19) Baltimore bridge cleanup

(32:33) USNS ship shortages

(33:28) no support, no projection

(34:26) the Air Force!?!

(35:06) the miracle of shipping containers

(35:50) Vietnam logistics log jam

(37:20) famous merchant mariners

(39:30) sea story time!

(42:27) outro