United States Maritime Administration
Agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation
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When the United States Maritime Commission was abolished on May 24, 1950, its functions were split between the Federal Maritime Board which was responsible for regulating shipping and awarding subsidies for construction and operation of merchant vessels, and Maritime Administration, which was responsible for administering subsidy programs, maintaining the national defense reserve merchant fleet, and operating the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
In 1961, the Federal Maritime Board regulatory functions were assumed by the newly created Federal Maritime Commission, while the subsidy functions were assigned to the Maritime Subsidy Board of the Maritime Administration. In 1964, the US was only moving about 15% of the world's cargo and goods by sea. The Maritime Administration instituted three programs to increase U.S. ship building and make the new U.S. built hulls more efficient and carry larger payloads.
On August 6, 1981, MARAD came under control of the Department of Transportation thereby bringing all transportation programs under one cabinet-level department.
In 2026, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new initiative to develop Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) for commercial vessels, hoping to make nuclear-powered ships part of the U.S. shipping ecosystem.
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Maritime Academies
The Maritime Administration collaborates with stakeholders from all transportation sectors and modes in order to accomplish its mission to improve the U.S. marine transportation system. MARAD operates one federal service academy and administers a Grant-In-Aid Program for six state-operated maritime academies:
Students at these academies can graduate with appropriate United States Coast Guard licenses (Mate or Engineer) if they choose to take the Coast Guard License exam. They may become commissioned reserve officers in any branch of the service when graduating from USMMA or a ROTC scholarship from one of the other maritime schools.
Subsidies
The Maritime Subsidy Board negotiates contracts for ship construction and grants operating-differential subsidies to shipping companies.
Maritime Security Program
The Maritime Administrator is vested with the residual powers of the Director of the National Shipping Authority, which was established in 1951 to organize and direct emergency merchant marine operations.
The Maritime Security Act of 1996 created the Maritime Security Program (MSP) authorizes MARAD to enter into contracts with U.S.-flag commercial ship owners to provide service during times of war or national emergencies. As of 2007, ten companies have signed contracts providing the MSP with a reserve of sixty cargo vessels. The MSP is the largest source for Department of Defense surge fleet.