Sec. 301. Sealift capability
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Subtitle V of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Sec. 59101. Objectives and policy. 59102. Procurement, maintenance, and operation. 59103. Sealift prioritization. 59104. Report on privilege. It is necessary for the national defense and economic security of the United States that the United States have vessels of the United States capable of providing and supporting strategic sealift— sufficient to meet surge defense deployment and essential economic activities for the United States in times of crisis or war; sufficient to respond unilaterally to national security threats in geographic areas not covered by alliance commitments and ensure economic security resilience for United States trade; and built, operated, and maintained during all times, primarily in the United States to protect and ensure national security resiliency and avoid foreign coercion of critical supply chains.
It is the policy of the United States to encourage and aid the development and maintenance of vessels of the United States with strategic sealift capabilities satisfying the objectives described in subsection (a). The Maritime Security Board shall annually develop a strategy to leverage the financial assistance programs established under part C of this subtitle to expand the number of vessels of the United States needed to accomplish the objectives described under subsection (a).
The strategy developed by the Maritime Security Board shall include— annual goals for the number of vessels that will be brought into the fleet of vessels of the United States capable of providing strategic sealift utilizing the Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, the Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, the Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, and the Shipbuilding Financial Incentives program, consistent with the most recent Mobility Capability Requirements Study produced by United States Transportation Command; and an assessment of domestic shipbuilding capacity and a strategy to increase the capacity of the domestic shipbuilding industry utilizing the Shipbuilding Financial Incentives program.
The strategy developed by the Maritime Security Board under paragraph
(1)shall be consistent with the National Maritime Strategy developed under section 50114. Upon completion, the Maritime Security Board shall transmit to the appropriate committees of Congress a summary of the strategy developed under subsection (c), with a classified annex as necessary. In this part, the term appropriate committees of Congress has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the SHIPS for America Act of 2025 . The Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall build, acquire, maintain, coordinate, support, and operate a sufficient and privileged fleet of vessels of the United States with commercial and military sealift capability. In developing sealift capability under this part, the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of Defense shall continue to support a sufficient Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, a Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, a Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, a Military Sealift Command of the Department of the Navy, and a Ready Reserve Force component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet under section 57100 of this title, to provide capacity and resiliency for unilateral United States strategic sealift in peace, crisis, and war. No court shall have jurisdiction to review decisions made by the Maritime Administrator, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to this section. In acquiring, maintaining, coordinating, and supporting a fleet of vessels capable of providing sealift capacity during wartime and crisis, the Maritime Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall ensure the availability of vessels, in the following order of priority: Commercial vessels of the United States. Vessels of the United States that are owned and operated by the United States Government. Vessels of countries that are defense treaty allies of the United States. Vessels of countries that are strategic partners of the United States. No court shall have jurisdiction to review decisions made by the Maritime Administrator or the Secretary of Defense with respect to this section. Not later than March 1, 2026, the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, the Chair of the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report including ways to ensure vessels of the United States operating in foreign commerce are privileged in regulation, taxation, fees, insurance, and policy compared to foreign vessels conducting trade with a United States domiciled entity, while remaining consistent with the international obligations of the United States. In submitting the report under subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall include options for regulating trade with foreign vessels in order to sustain and grow the Maritime Security Fleet under chapter 531 of this title, the Cable Security Fleet under chapter 532 of this title, the Tanker Security Fleet under chapter 534 of this title, the Strategic Commercial Fleet under chapter 536 of this title, and other vessels of the United States operating in foreign commerce. . The table of chapters for subtitle V of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Part H—Strategic sealift .