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| Long title | An Act concerning foreign-built dredges. |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | the 59th United States Congress |
| Effective | May 28, 1906 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 59–185 |
| Statutes at Large | 34 Stat. 204 |
| Legislative history | |
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The Foreign Dredge Act of 1906 is a United States federal statute that requires dredges operating in US waters to be built in the United States, and to be owned and chartered by US citizens. [1] Dredges violating the act are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the US government.
The original intention of the law was to protect and foster America's shipbuilding industry to enable it to compete with established foreign shipbuilders. [2] However, "U.S. Dredgers Are Doing What They Should - The U.S. dredging industry is highly competitive with more than 50 different companies awarded federal work each year."
The history behind the Act is based on a need to repair the town of Galveston, TX, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane raised concerns that sand exported on foreign-owned barges might be taken out of the country, effectively stealing US soil, which provided the initial motivation for the bill that would become the Foreign Dredge Act. [3] A more central motivation emerged, which was to protect the US shipbuilding industry from foreign competition.
The Navy League of the United States in a recent maritime global power report emphasized the importance of U.S. dredgers in looking after the nation’s waterways and shipping lanes. The robust domestic dredging industry sees to the maintenance of more than 400 ports and 25,000 miles of navigation channels throughout the U.S. Because the U.S. does not have to depend on foreign companies to dredge in the harbors of, for example, its naval facilities, the requirement for U.S.-built, U.S.-operated and U.S.-crewed dredging vessels prevents a possible sabotage situation, avoiding the prospect of having foreign actors gain access for underwater surveillance of U.S. military vessels and stations.
Two countries, the United States and China, prohibit foreign dredging, and 15% of countries surveyed by the Transportation Institute have restrictions on dredging. [4] : 90
"The U.S. Dredging Industry Is Thriving, While Saving Taxpayers Money: The cumulative result of this fierce competition was substantial, with the industry saving the federal government and, by extension, American taxpayers $670 million in fiscal year 2022 alone." The U.S. dredging market is highly competitive. An analysis of the FY22 U.S. federal dredging market compiled in September 2023 states 52 Jones [Dredge] Act dredging companies were awarded federal dredging contracts in FY2022. On average there were three (3) bidders per project, with 20 projects receiving five (5) or more bidders. Indeed, 72% percent of the time, the private sector industry winning bid was lower than the Independent Government Estimate (IGE); and 95% of the time, the private sector industry winning bid was lower than the Government Estimated Awardable Range (GEAR), which is IGE + 25%. When compared to the IGE, 59 projects were lower by more than 10%, 27 projects were lower by more than 25% and 15 projects were lower by more than 40%. New construction of Jones [Dredge] Act dredges – U.S. owned, built and crewed vessels have been rolling off the blocks for the past five (5) years and will continue into the foreseeable future – over $2.5Billion in recapitalization building new dredges and equipment.
In outdated cited materials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Government Accountability Office state that lack of dredging capacity and high costs are the cause of a 15-year delay in dredging the 10 most important US ports to accommodate post-Panamax depths. The Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute claim that the Foreign Dredge Act is anti-competitive, and that it impairs America's ability to expand its ports by limiting its supply of dredging ships. [5] [6] Again, in an outdated review, Gregory Tosi argues that, for example, the Port of Corpus Christi loses $50 billion of oil exports per year due to a lack of dredging capacity to improve the port. [7] More recently, "Corpus Christi Dredging is Poised to Boost Oil Exports and Economics: In the summer of 2023, the third phase of the deepening and widening of channels in Corpus Christi Bay was completed with a 7-foot-deeper channel allows for loading of additional barrels into VLCCs. Deepening the channel to 54 feet (from the old 47 feet) also enables terminals to fully load 1-MMbbl Suezmaxes, up from the 800-850 Mbbl."
90% of global dredging contracts are currently won by one of four Belgian and Dutch dredging companies Jan De Nul, Van Oord, Boskalis, and DEME, which are generally ineligible to compete for US contracts. [4] : 91
Much global corruption surrounds these Dutch and Belgium dredging companies. Brussels-based dredging giant DEME recently appeared before the criminal court of Ghent in a concerning dredging works carried out in the Russian port of Sabetta. The case revolves around dredging works in the port of Sabetta between 2014 and 2017. The filings, which were made in connection with a legal assistance request from the Belgium government to the US, showed that Belgian investigators are probing the company for alleged “public contract fraud and bribery offences." Dredging the port was a crucial step in constructing Russia's first Arctic liquefied natural gas production and export terminal, the Financial Times reported in 2019. According to Belgian authorities, DEME, acting through its agent, Sofia Mirtcheva-Neirynck, allegedly paid bribes beginning in 2013 to win a lucrative dredging contract for Sabetta and used a series of shell companies to launder the bribe money. Both DEME and Jan De Nul bid for the contract.
Four Ex-Nigerian Officials Named in Swiss Bribery Scandal citing Dredging International which is a Cyprus-based subsidiary of the Belgian petroleum infrastructure and dredging group DEME. Dredging International Services was fined one million Swiss Francs and asked to refund 36 million Swiss Francs illegal profit after it was indicted for allegedly making illicit payments to a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Former Mauritian Port Chairman Bribed by Boskalis gets jail term extended on appeal- He was found guilty in November 2019 by the Intermediate Court of having solicited bribes from the Dutch company Boskalis, which won a dredging contract of the English Canal in Port-Louis’ harbor. The Supreme Court sided with the previous ruling of Intermediate Court, pointing out that there was ample evidence to show that Chady was bribed by Boskalis.
Dutch offshore contractor Van Oord has come under fire for its involvement in an Angolan city development project for which three thousand families were violently moved out of their homes. The companies worked together on the project with Urbinveste, an investment company of Isabella dos Santos, the daughter of the former president of Angola. In addition, despite the controversy surrounding Dos Santos, Van Oord transferred substantial amounts of money to the bank accounts of her investment company, Urbinveste. Experts say the dredging company has ignored important “red flags” for possible corruption. Dutch companies linked to human rights abuses in Angola: report Dredging company Van Oord, ING Bank and credit insurer Atradius were all involved in an urban development project in Angola in which 3 thousand families were forcibly driven out of their homes to make from for the project.
Senator Mike Lee has proposed the DEEP Act, which would repeal the Foreign Dredge Act and create a new nationwide permitting process to expedite dredging permitting. He has also introduced more constrained versions of the bill, the Port Modernization and Supply Chain Protection Act, that would repeal the Foreign Dredge Act's cabotage requirements, allowing international dredges to operate in the USA. [8]
The SHIP IT Act, introduced by Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach and Congressman Byron Donalds would allow vessels from NATO member countries to engage in dredging in the United States; the Cato Institute notes that "Four of the largest dredging companies in the world are located in NATO members, with each possessing more hopper dredgers than the entire U.S. dredging fleet combined." [6] Lee has introduced a bill with similar purposes in the Senate, the Allied Partnership and Port Modernization Act.
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing dams, dikes, and other controls for streams and shorelines; and recovering valuable mineral deposits or marine life having commercial value. In all but a few situations the excavation is undertaken by a specialist floating plant, known as a dredger.
The Dubai Islands, formerly known as the Deira Islands are four undeveloped artificial islands off the coast of Deira, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The project was initially called Palm Deira and was planned to be part of the Palm Islands. As of 2021, little development has taken place on the islands due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, abbreviated as GRSE, is one of India's leading shipyards, located in Kolkata. It builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. GRSE also builds export ships.
The Ports of the United States handle more than 2 billion metric tons of domestic and import/export cargo annually. U.S. ports handle a wide variety of goods that are critical to the global economy, including petroleum, grain, steel, automobiles, and containerized goods. Reports from individual ports indicate that approximately 4.6 million automobiles passed through American ports in 2006.
China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) is a majority state-owned, publicly traded, multinational engineering and construction company primarily engaged in the design, construction and operation of infrastructure assets, including highways, bridges, tunnels, railways, subways, airports, oil platforms, and marine ports. CCCC has been a contractor for numerous Belt and Road Initiative projects. It is included in the Fortune Global 500 list for 2016.
The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project (CDP) began on 8 February 2008 to deepen the shipping channels leading to Melbourne, Australia.
Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a Dutch dredging and heavylift company that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure internationally. The company has one of the world's largest dredging fleets, a large stake in Smit International and owns Dockwise, a large heavylift shipping company.
China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) is an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), providing infrastructure construction, such as marine engineering, dredging and reclamation, road and bridge, railways, airports and plant construction. It is the second largest dredging company in the world, carrying out projects in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Royal Van Oord is a Dutch maritime contracting company that specializes in dredging, land reclamation and constructing man made islands. Royal Van Oord has undertaken many projects throughout the world, including land reclamation, dredging and beach nourishment. The company has one of the world's largest dredging fleets.
Offsets are compensatory trade agreements, reciprocal trade agreements, between an exporting foreign company, or possibly a government acting as intermediary, and an importing entity. Offset agreements often involve trade in military goods and services and are alternatively called: industrial compensations, industrial cooperation, offsets, industrial and regional benefits, balances, juste retour or equilibrium, to define mechanisms more complex than counter-trade. Counter-trade can also be considered one of the many forms of defense offset, to compensate a purchasing country. The incentive for the exporter results from the conditioning of the core transaction to the acceptance of the offset obligation.
Jan De Nul Group is a Belgian family-owned company, with the financial headquarters in Luxembourg, that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure on an international basis. Its main focus is dredging, which accounts for 85% of its turnover. Other areas include civil engineering and environmental technology.
Port Freeport is the smallest (geographically) deep-water seaport along the U.S Gulf Coast. Located in Freeport, Texas . It has rail access, represents both private and public facilities. It is ranked 10th in the nation for chemicals, 19th in the nation for total tonnage, 26th in the nation for container traffic, handles over 100,000 vehicles per year and has more than 1,000 ships per year. Forbes magazine (2017) ranked Port Freeport as one of the top 10 fastest growing seaports for exports in the U.S.
Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME) is an international group of specialised companies in the field of capital and maintenance dredging, land reclamation, port infrastructure development, offshore related services for the oil & gas industry, offshore windfarm installation, environmental remediation a.o. The group is based in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, and has current operations on the five continents.
The Port of Corpus Christi is the largest port in the United States in total revenue tonnage, third largest in total waterway tonnage, and the largest crude oil export gateway in the nation. The Port of Corpus Christi is located on Corpus Christi Bay in the western Gulf of Mexico, with a 36-mile channel that is being widened and deepened to 54 feet MLLW from its current depth of 45 feet.
Sabetta is the location of a port and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant—Yamal LNG—on the Yamal Peninsula, in the north of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.
The TSHD Sospan Dau is a Dutch trailing suction hopper dredger owned by Sosban BV. The vessel has worked on dredging projects, including offshore aggregates, port maintenance, land reclamation, coastal defense and beach replenishment. The name Sospan Dau is Welsh and originates from Sosban Fach and Llanelli's tin plating industry, Sospan being the Welsh for Saucepan and Dau being Welsh for Two as the ship is a successor to the original Sospan.
Dredging Corporation of India Limited, or DCI, is an Indian dredging company which does dredging for Indian seaports exclusively. It occasionally dredges at foreign seaports in countries such as Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Dubai. It is mainly involved in maintenance dredging. Almost all the maintenance dredging in Indian seaports is carried out by DCI due to government regulations. DCI is also involved in capital dredging, beach nourishment, and land reclamation. The main seaports in which DCI does business are Visakhapatnam Port, Haldia, Kandla, Cochin Port and Ennore Port.
The Port of Payra is a seaport located at Kalapara in Patuakhali, Bangladesh. It was established by an Act of Parliament in 2013. The port was officially inaugurated in 2016. It is located on the Ramnabad Channel near the Bay of Bengal. The port is undergoing several Development and expansion and the project is expected to be completed in 202.
Royal IHC or Koninklijke IHC, previously IHC Holland (1943–1995), IHC Holland Merwede (1995–2005) and IHC Merwede (2005–2014) is a Dutch shipbuilding company with headquarters in Kinderdijk. It focuses on the development, design and construction of ships for the dredging and offshore industries.
Het verjaagde water is a 1947 Dutch non-fiction novel written by A. den Doolaard, which gives an account of the recovery works to repair dike breaches after the October 1944 Inundation of Walcheren as part of operations by The Allies of World War II during Operation Infatuate. Researchers from Delft University of Technology have found high levels of historical accuracy in den Doolaard's descriptions of the events that took place, the methods used to close the dikes and the key people involved. Den Doolaard assigned pseudonyms to most of the main characters and organisations. The name A. den Doolaard is also a pseudonym, the author’s real name being Cornelis Johannes George Spoelstra Jr.
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