Note from the Editor
WILLIAM R. BENNETT III
When you start at the bottom there is a lot of room for growth!
“ We now have promise that the shipbuilding industry will flourish again, and that the skills possessed by its trained personnel will not be lost to the industry. We have promise that the American Merchant Marine will be equipped with the number and types of vessels necessary for our international trade and our national security.” That statement was included in a message published by President Harry S. Truman on August 18, 1948. WWII led to a massive shipbuilding program in the United States, producing over 5,500 vessels over a few years time, including the famous Liberty ships. By 1948 the fleet had been reduced to around 2,500 ships. And, notwithstanding President Truman’ s statement in 1948, seven years later, the American merchant marine deep-sea fleet was cut in half to 1075 ships.
Today, the United States builds about 0.2 percent of the world’ s tonnage annually, while China, Japan, and Korea build 90 percent of the world’ s tonnage.
The infrastructure, financing, legislation, and training that will be required to resurrect shipbuilding in the United States will need sustained unwavering support from federal, state, and local governments with significant cooperation from the private sector. Absent an“ all-hands-on-deck” movement that lasts for a decade or more, history will repeat itself and American ship building will not progress. Blank Rome Maritime is excited for the future of shipbuilding in the United States and has a team prepared to provide legal services to clients financing and building new vessels. p – 2025 BLANK ROME LLP
EDITOR, Mainbrace
WILLIAM R. BENNETT III Partner 212.885.5152 william. bennett @ blankrome. com