The U.S. merchant fleet, which in the mid-20th century was the largest in the world, plying the five oceans to deliberately bring trade and development to every part of the globe, is now decimated, both reflecting and cataloguing the decline of the U.S. physical economy, and secondarily the increase in outsourcing.
In January, 19 members from both houses the U.S. Congress drafted a letter to President Biden warning of the dearth of U.S. merchant ships, and the collapsed state of the industry. Neither current President Biden, nor former President Trump, has shown the least knowledge of nor inclination to remedy the situation.
A few indicators show the situation:
• Between 2000 and 2023, the number of oceangoing commercial ships exceeding 1,000 gross tons in the U.S. merchant fleet fell from 282 vessels to 17, with a corresponding decline of one-third in carrying capacity.
