Posted: 10/12/2012 01:03:41 AM PDT
For U.S. Secretary of
Transportation Ray LaHood, his department involves a lot more than trains,
planes and highways.
LaHood reaffirmed that belief by spending Thursday morning at Vallejo's
California Maritime Academy, a school on the forefront of training students for
the maritime industry.
"Over the last four years we've taken a lot of interest in the maritime
industry," LaHood said, adding he included the short visit to the California
State University campus as part of a larger California trip.
LaHood was expected to tour BART stations and other facilities in San
Francisco later Thursday.
He was also expected to announce this morning at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet
north of Benicia that the Maritime Administration would award $392,913 to Cal
Maritime stemming from proceeds of the sale of old obsolete ships in the
Mothball Fleet.
Besides Thursday's tour, LaHood was on hand to commission new Cal Maritime
President Thomas Cropper as a Rear Admiral in the United States Merchant
Service, a requirement of his new position.
Following the short ceremony, LaHood toured the Golden Bear training ship and
the school's simulation center, and spoke to students in a leadership
conference. He also took a look at the Golden Bear's ballast water treatment
facility and watched an demonstration of Cal Maritime's navigation and engine
laboratories.
LaHood was accompanied by David Matsuda, chief of the U.S. Department of
Transportation Maritime Administration, and
a small entourage of security officers and other officials.
LaHood is the first U.S. Secretary of Transportation to visit the campus, an
action which gives the institution some clout, Cropper said.
"It's wonderful. We have a lot of confidence in our cadets and our programs.
This reaffirms our confidence," Cropper said.
"The maritime industry has such broad implications for future employment in
the state of California. They understand that," he added.
LaHood told cadets assembled in Rizza Auditorium that their future is bright
and that his administration has invested in the maritime industry, including
infrastructure improvements at several ports.
A new policy document, the Maritime Highway Plan, also outlines investments
needed to invigorate the global maritime industry, he said.
Further, a new channel in the Panama Canal is generating considerable
interest among ports the world over in expanding their capacities and depths, he
said.
Investment in transportation is one area state senior transportation
consultant Norman Fassler-Katz said is crucial. The consultant for State Sen.
Alan Lowenthal was among the 100-plus crowd assembled on the Vallejo campus for
LaHood's visit.
"The biggest issue for us is that there has to be clear federal freight
policy in the next transportation bill and more funding sources, too,"
Fassler-Katz said.
LaHood said his department has made maritime industry investments a high
priority, and he would try for more money in the next funding cycle.
Contact staff writer Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@timesheraldonline.com or (707)
553-6832. Follow her on Twitter @SarahVTH.
