WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins of Maine received the Distinguished Leadership Award for Maritime and Supply Chain Security during the U.S. Maritime Security Conference at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on Tuesday. The conference is the largest maritime security conference in the world.

Collins, a Republican, was recognized for her work on the SAFE Port Act that she co-wrote with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Also receiving an award was Rep. Peter King, who is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee. The award is sponsored by the U.S. Maritime Administration; the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; and the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The SAFE Port Act is designed to address the vulnerabilities that U.S. ports and global supply chain face. It also significantly strengthened the Container Security Initiative, or CSI, which helps U.S. Customs inspectors at foreign ports identify and inspect high-risk containers before heading to the U.S.