SHIPS for America Act of 2025

52105. United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program

(a) Establishment. The Maritime Administrator shall establish a program, to be known as the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program, to ensure that a qualified workforce of sufficient size is ready to crew strategic sealift vessels in the event of a national defense or national emergency activation. Through the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program, the Maritime Administrator shall establish and administer mechanisms to register merchant mariners and mariner employers to participate in the Program.

(b) Implementation. The Maritime Administrator shall—

(1) appoint a board of directors to oversee the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program;

(2) appoint and facilitate a working group to recommend policies, procedures, and a prioritization matrix for the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program, which shall be composed of representatives from major stakeholders, including maritime labor organizations, credentialed United States Merchant Mariners, vessel owners, vessel operators, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, State maritime academies, United States Military Sealift Command, and other likely employers of members of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program; and

(3) submit to Congress an annual evaluation of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.

(c) Membership in United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program

(1) In general. There shall be 2 paths to enrollment in the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program as described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) Members who work ashore who hold mariner qualifications

(A) Opportunities. The United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program shall provide individuals who hold Coast Guard issued mariner qualifications who work ashore with an opportunity to maintain, or potentially upgrade, their mariner qualifications and credentials by—

(i) providing qualified service at sea on vessels of the United States; and

(ii) participating in compulsory training.

(B) Structure. The United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program shall be open for enrollment to both licensed and unlicensed mariners and provide members with an 8–3–1 schedule as follows:

(i) 8 months shoreside employment.

(ii) 3 months sailing employment designed to ensure that members meet the minimum sea-time requirement to maintain the credentials required by the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping certification, or, depending on mariner and employer requirements, more frequent, but shorter-duration sailing assignments.

(iii) 1 month vacation, which is in addition to vacation provided by the shoreside employer.

(C) Ashore employers

(i) Employer obligations. The employer of a member of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program described under this paragraph shall grant the member—

(I) an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of the member’s training, sailing, and vacation with the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program; and

(II) the same or an equivalent position with the employer when the member returns from training, sailing, or vacation with the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.

(D) Sea day assignments. The United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program shall, with respect to members described under this paragraph—

(i) maintain records of each member’s qualifications, sea time, and availability, and prioritize assignments on these and other factors with the goal of maximizing the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program readiness to support strategic sealift;

(ii) maintain a job call program office that coordinates how jobs become available for members from State maritime academies, vessel operating companies, maritime labor organizations, United States Military Sealift Command, and other organizations responsible for crewing vessels of the United States of qualifying tonnage or horsepower;

(iii) establish partnerships with State maritime academies and the United States Military Sealift Command that aim to establish reliable crewing jobs with job cycles that maximize the readiness of United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program;

(iv) dispatch members to fill available jobs, prioritizing maximizing readiness for strategic sealift, taking into consideration mariner availability and credentials, sea time requirements to maintain merchant mariner credentials, predicted program demand for specific ratings, and expected expansion or contraction of the program’s membership; and

(v) coordinate with vessel operators and labor organizations to ensure that members in the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program are given opportunities to fulfill their sea time and maintain the credentials required by the Standards of Training, Certification, and, Watchkeeping certification.

(E) USERRA protections. Members of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program described under this paragraph shall be entitled to protections and obligations under chapter 43 of title 38 (commonly known as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act).

(F) Requirement. A member in the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program described under this paragraph may not fail to accept a sea day assignment and remain in good standing with the Program, unless a hardship exemption is provided by the Maritime Administrator under subsection (e).

(3) Members serving on foreign vessels

(A) In general. The United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program shall be open for enrollment to individuals who—

(i) hold Coast Guard issued merchant mariner credentials required by the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Certification;

(ii) have completed their service obligations with respect to any previous enrollment in a Federal or State maritime academy, if applicable; and

(iii) are serving on a foreign vessel (as defined in section 110) that is not owned by a foreign entity of concern (as that term is defined in section 4 of the SHIPS for America Act of 2025) or a vessel registered under a registry of a foreign country of concern or operated under the authority of a foreign country of concern (as that term is defined in such section 4).

(B) Requirement. Members of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program described under this paragraph shall maintain—

(i) Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Certification currency;

(ii) a valid merchant mariner credential, unlimited as to horsepower or tonnage, issued by the United States Coast Guard as an officer in the merchant marine of the United States, accompanied by the appropriate national and international endorsements and certifications required by the Coast Guard for service aboard vessels on domestic and international voyages, without limitation;

(iii) a valid transportation worker identification credential;

(iv) a Coast Guard medical certificate; and

(v) classes and certifications described in subparagraph (C).

(C) Certifications. The Administrator shall publish a list of classes and certifications required for individuals described in subparagraph (A) to be eligible for the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.

(D) Rule of construction. Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall be construed to allow the United States Coast Guard to prevent or delay a merchant mariner who is otherwise eligible from attaining a more advanced rank or credential for Merchant Mariners sailing on foreign vessels.

(E) USERRA protections. Members of the United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program described under this paragraph shall be entitled to protections and obligations under chapter 43 of title 38 (commonly known as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act).

(d) Enforcement. The Maritime Administrator shall ensure all members of the Merchant Marine Career Retention Program remain in good standing with the requirements of the Program.

(1) Enforcement. Subject to paragraph (2), members found to be in noncompliance with the requirements of the Program shall—

(A) have their reservist status terminated; and

(B) forfeit the protections provided under chapter 43 of title 38 (commonly known as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act).

(2) Exception. In cases where the Maritime Administrator determines a hardship exists, which prevents the mariner from meeting the requirements of the Program, the requirements of paragraph (1) shall not apply.

(e) Authorization of appropriations. There is authorized to be appropriated out of the Maritime Security Trust Fund established under section 50301(b) of this title, to carry out this section, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034.

52105. United States Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.