The Maritime Administration (MARAD) was established in 1950 and continues as an part of the United States Department of Transportation.

MARAD was established by Reorganization Plan No. 21, effective 24 May 1950, as one of the successor agencies to the Maritime Commission. The US Maritime Commission was created as an independent agency by the Merchant Marine Act of 29 June 1936, to further develop and maintain a merchant marine for the promotion of United States commerce and defense. ...

It administers financial programs to develop, promote, and operate the United States Merchant Marine; determines services and routes necessary to develop and maintain American foreign commerce and requirements of ships necessary to provide adequate service on such routes; conducts research and development activities in the maritime field; regulates the transfer of US documented vessels to foreign registries; maintains equipment, shipyard facilities, and reserve fleets of Government-owned ships essential for national defense; operates the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York; and administers a Grant-In-Aid Program for State operated maritime academies in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Texas.¹ US Merchant Marines, WWII, North Atlantic The United States Merchant Marine is a fleet of ships that is used to transport both imports and exports during peace time and serves as an auxiliary to the United States Navy during times of war, delivering both troops and supplies. ... Seal of the US Merchant Marine Academy The US Merchant Marine Academy represents Federal involvement in maritime training that is more than a century old. ... Kings Point is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County, New York. ... The California Maritime Academy is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. ... Northwestern Michigan College, also known as NMC to local residents, is a community college in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan. ... The State University of New York Maritime College is located in Bronx, New York City in historic Fort Schuyler on the Throggs Neck peninsula where the East River meets Long Island Sound. ...

When the Federal Maritime Board was abolished in 1961, its functions relating to the subsidization of the merchant marine were transferred to the Secretary of Commerce who established the Maritime Subsidy Board within the Administration to perform these functions. This latter Board negotiates contracts for ship construction and grants operating-differential subsidies to shipping companies. The office of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the mid-20th century. ...

The Maritime Administrator is vested with the residual powers of the Director of the National Shipping Authority, which was established in 1951 to organize and direct emergency merchant marine operations.

In 1981, MARAD came under control of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is a Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transport. ...

Text originally taken from the Maritime Administration website (http://www.nvr.navy.mil/marad.htm), which is public domain under US copyright law. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

1. http://www.marad.dot.gov/programs/state_aca.html