The US Merchant Marine Fleet Is Dying -- And It May Hurt America's Ability To Wage War Abroad

[douglas9]

The once-mighty U.S. Merchant Marine fleet has nearly collapsed under the weight of high labor costs, zigzagging federal policies and intense competition from abroad, damaging America’s position as the only country in the world able to supply and sustain a long-distance war.

The U.S. Merchant Marine has declined from 1,288 international trading vessels in 1951 to 81 today.

“It’s a matter of national security,” said Maritime Administration chief Mark H. Buzby, a retired Navy rear admiral.

The Merchant Marine is a fleet of U.S. ships that carries cargo during peacetime and becomes an auxiliary of the Defense Department during wartime to deliver troops and supplies to conflict zones. The Navy itself does not have enough ships to handle a large-scale supply mission on its own and has relied in almost every conflict on the Merchant Marine.

“I tell people we’re kind of on the ragged edge here of our ability to conduct a large-scale sea-lift operation to move our combat forces overseas. Even in an uncontested environment, we would be challenged,” Buzby said.



An Air Force general warned Congress last month that the Pentagon might have to turn to foreign vessels to mobilize equipment, just as it did in the 1991 Gulf War mobilization. But in that war, the crews of 13 of the 192 foreign-flagged vessels carrying cargo rebelled and forced their ships away from the war zone.


https://taskandpurpose.com/us-mercant-marine-fleet-military/

[mercuryblues]

1. An interesting article

It brings up some good points and glosses over others. The Jones Act has been McCain's target for decades. Nullifying it will surely break up the unions. That is why republicans want to repeal the Jones Act. Which is why it sickens me to see Dems going along with the idea.

There is other legislation in the JA to protect mariners. Pre Jones act if a mariner was killed or injured at sea they, nor their families, had a pathway to get compensation from ship owners. The Jones act provides that mariners can get workers comp if injured at sea. It also gives mariners and their families the right to sue for negligence.

The provision that protects American interests and jobs is often mis-represented by the media. The easiest way to explain it is a foreign flagged ship can go to Jacksonville; off load cargo and pick up cargo. It can then go to Miami; off load/on load cargo. Then to PR and off load/on load cargo. What a foreign flagged ship can not do is off load the cargo it on loads in Jacksonville and off load it in Miami or any other American port.

When PR was devasted by the hurricane, it was not the jones act that prevented relief. They already gey over 90% of their fuel from foreign flagged ships, the Jones act did not stop that from continuing. Just as it woulf not have prevented a French flagged ship from dropping off relief aid they wanted to send to PR. Where the major problem layed was there were no port workers to help unload the cargo, no trucks & drivers to disperse the aid and severe road damage for them to drive on. The Jones Act became the shiny object to deflect away from trump's administration response to the hurricane. He had to be told that PR was part of the USA, FFS.

I am always suspicious when companies complain that regulations are too costly and eat into their profits. Their real objective is to eliminate worker safety rules. You never hear them complain that it costs $350,000 to 1.1M to go through the Panama Canal as being to costly. You also never hear them complain about the shakedowns, er I mean fines they pay in developing countries for having a misplaced comma on paperwork.

No it is always regulations that cost them so much money. You know the regulations that require life rafts, food and water on them and for them to be inspected to make sure they are in working order. Regulations that require the shipr to be inspected for rust so it doesn't break apart in the middle of the ocean. Regulations that keep the crews trained up to date & properly licensed. Regulations that keep the company from forcing workers to work 18 hrs straight.

[marble falls]

2. Over a 1/3 of the Navy's fleet is cargo/resupply/barracks ships. The merchant marine....

has been disappearing since WWII.

Here's the total ships in the Navy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy

The USN can project power anywhere on the planet without US flagged commercial ships. Its larger than the next eight or ten navy's put together.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Merchant_Marine

The World War II era was the peak for the U.S. fleet. During the post-war year of 1950, for example, U.S. carriers represented about 43 percent of the world's shipping trade. By 1995, the American market share had plunged to 4 percent, according to a 1997 report by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO).[41] The report states, "the number of U.S.-flag vessels has dropped precipitously — from more than 2,000 in the 1940s and 850 in 1970 to about 320 in 1996." A diminishing U.S. fleet contrasted with the burgeoning of international sea trade. For example, worldwide demand for natural gas led to the growth of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker fleet, which reached 370 vessels as of 2007. In 2007 the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) set uniform LNG training standards at U.S. maritime training facilities.[42] While short-term imports are declining,[43] longer term projections signal an eightfold increase in U.S. imported LNG by 2025, the worldwide LNG fleet does not include a single U.S. flagged vessel. Moreover, only five U.S. deepwater LNG ports were operational in 2007, although permits have been issued for four additional ports, according to MARAD.[44]

The US pool of qualified mariners declined with the fleet.[45] In 2004, MARAD described the gap between sealift crewing needs and available unlicensed personnel as "reaching critical proportions, and the long term outlook for sufficient personnel is also of serious concern."[46]

Future seagoing jobs for U.S. mariners may be on other than U.S.-flagged ships. American-trained mariners are being sought after by international companies to operate foreign-flagged vessels, according to Julie A. Nelson, deputy maritime administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration.[47] For example, Shell International and Shipping Company Ltd. began recruiting U.S. seafarers to crew its growing fleet of tankers in 2008.[48] In 2007, Overseas Shipholding Group and the Maritime Administration agreed to allow American maritime academy cadets to train aboard OSG's international flag vessels.[49] In 2015, the average salary of American mariners was $39,000.[50]

[Haggis for Breakfast]

3. Try to remember

That the Merchant "Marines" were pressed into service in WWII and VietNam.

And their "service" was invaluable. Priceless. They performed functions that no one else could. It took years before their sacrifice to this nation was finally acknowledged. They, too, are Veterans.

A few years ago, I saw an elderly gentleman wearing a ball cap that read: WWII Merchant Marine. I always greet other Veterans with a smile, a handshake and a kind word, so I walked up to him and his wife and thanked him for his service. I asked him where he served and what he had done. We spoke for a few minutes, and then parted with a laugh. A few aisles later, his wife caught up to me and thanked me for acknowledging him. She had tears in her eyes. She told me that for too long his (and other Merchant Marines) service had been all but ignored and that after I walked away, her husband's eyes filled with tears. Not tears of sadness, but tears of pride upon being recognized for his service to our country. She said it had rarely ever happened to him.

Then my eyes filled with tears.