Marad slashes budget

REDUCTION OF the Title XI shipbuilding finance programme has led to the United States Maritime Administration (Marad) cutting its budget by $97m for fiscal year 2001.

The announcement came as President Clinton made his last budget broadcast. Marad's Title XI loan guarantee programme was an attempt by the US government to revive American shipyards and boost commercial contracts in the mid-1990s. The programme largely failed to live up to its goal, and this year budget allotment will shrink from $80m to just $6m.

Source: Fairplay News