Donald Trump announces ‘new Maritime Golden Age’

“For decades, the nation’s strategic position and shipbuilding industrial capacity have weakened due to a lack of strategic focus, cumbersome Government procurement processes, and a lack of strategic support for construction of commercial vessels in domestic shipyards,” says the ‘Maritime Action Plan’ (MAP).

“There has also been a degradation of Federal financial investment in the Maritime Industrial Base (MIB), which, when coupled with a dearth of private investment in the MIB and unnecessary regulatory burdens, have slowed the construction of ships and other critical infrastructure while driving up costs and disincentivizing the operation of ships under the US flag.

“American shipbuilding capacity has withered, while strategic competitors have rapidly, and often unfairly, expanded and solidified their market share.”

The document says that less than 1% of new commercial ships are built in the US, where there are just 66 shipyards in total.

“The United States does not have the capacity necessary to scale up the domestic shipbuilding industry to the rate required to meet national priorities,” it says. “Strategic competitors, meanwhile, dominate the market and build ships at a fraction of the cost of US production. A self-sustaining domestic shipbuilding sector is critical for national and economic security.

“The United States can neither afford for its trade to and from foreign markets to be ferried almost entirely on foreign-build, -crewed and -flagged ships, nor for the MIB to be unable to build and maintain the vessels needed to defend American interests on the high seas.”

Key focuses

The MAP lays out in 42 pages a range of intentions that will address the sector, including:

• Recapitalising public shipyards
• Working with the Army Corps of Engineers and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Improving planning and design efforts
• Using commercial solutions
• Using artificial intelligence
• Providing shipyard incentives
• Improving shipbuilding coordination

More efforts will be made in workforce training and eduction, with a focus on modernising and funding more academies, and there is also a determination to beef up security both physically and digitally.

“Thanks to the leadership and vision of President Donald J. Trump, the United States is decisively moving towards a new Maritime Golden Age by expanding commercial shipbuilding capacity, building a resilient workforce, and strengthening alliances that advance both our nation’s economic prosperity and its national security,” the document says.

It does not say how much investment will be required to bring in this golden age. The document can be downloaded here.