Industry Profiles » Present Status

The United States continues to depend primarily on oceanborne shipments for its international trade. As the world's largest trading nation, the United States exports and imports about one-fourth of global merchandise trade in value annually. The largest part of this merchandise trade - over 1.3 billion metric tons of cargo - is moved by water. Another billion tons of cargo is carried in domestic waterborne movements, which serve over 90 percent of the U.S. population. Based on current projections, by the year 2020 U.S. foreign trade in goods may grow to four times today's value and almost double its current tonnage, and inland waterways traffic will increase by one-third.

The United States once relied on a huge fleet of relatively small ships to provide the commercial and sealift shipping capacity appropriate for its trade. Since the end of World War II, the U.S.-flag vessel fleet has been in a continual state of decline. The United States now ranks 12th in number of oceangoing vessels, having fallen from a top-ten ranking just a few years ago. The U.S.-flag merchant fleet ranks 15th on a deadweight tonnage basis. Today, the U.S. fleet's share of oceanborne commercial foreign trade, by weight, continues to be less than five percent. Other traditional maritime powers have experienced similar declines.

While the number of vessels in the U.S. fleet has shrunk, at the same time many nations have built an international maritime presence as a means of projecting visibility and earning hard currency. These registries may not require the same level of protection for seafarer health, welfare and safety as on U.S.-flag vessels. Often, foreign-flag vessel owners do not pay any corporate income taxes on revenues earned in U.S. foreign commerce, and the crews frequently do not pay income taxes to any country. By comparison, vessels operating under the U.S. flag are subject to all the taxes and regulatory laws applicable in the United States.

Changes in maritime technology and reductions in crew sizes have contributed to a contraction of the industry's supply of vessels and manpower. Even though the size of the U.S.-flag fleet has declined in recent years, the productivity of the fleet has improved substantially. Today's fleet includes ships and barges, and also containers, chassis, computer-based data systems, rail and truck interchanges, warehouses, piers, cranes, terminals, and highly skilled people ashore and at sea. Technological advances have greatly improved the flow of cargo, resulting in virtually seamless movement of goods from origin to destination anywhere in the world. These advances have also been applied to the movement of military shipments.

The U.S.-flag industry continues to invest in the expansion and modernization of the fleet. U.S. Shipping Partners recently took delivery of the second of nine product tankers from NASSCO, a west coast shipyard subsidary of General Dynamics. Aker Philadelphia Shipyard delivered the sixth of a twelve product tanker series to be chartered to Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. Crowley Maritime Corporation took delivery of the sixth of ten articulated tug-barges from VT Halter Marine.

The maritime issues and challenges facing the nation are significant and complex. The present and future ability of the U.S.-flag fleet to serve as a contributor to economic sovereignty and national security remains a challenge. Changes in world political trends and economies occur constantly. The 104th Congress understood the precarious situation the Nation faced when it overwhelmingly adopted the Maritime Security Act of 1996. This measure established the Maritime Security Program to support a fleet of militarily useful U.S.-flag commercial vessels and American-citizen crews necessary for the military and economic security of the Nation. In 2003, Congress reaffirmed its support for the U.S.-flag fleet by expanding the fleet to its current contingency of 60 vessels.

Types of Merchant Ships

The U.S.-flag merchant marine is made up of a variety of vessel configurations for specialized and general cargo purposes. The following is an overall synopsis of the privately owned self- propelled and non self- propelled U.S.-flag fleet as of 2007, in terms of number of vessels engaged in core areas of operation -- deep-sea foreign and domestic (in excess of 10,000 DWT), Great Lakes, and inland rivers:

Tankers (over 10,000 DWT)

55

Tankers (under 10,000 DWT

90

Dry Bulk Carriers (over 10,000 DWT)

13

Dry Bulk Carriers (under 10,000 DWT)

946

Containerships (over 10,000 DWT)

75

Roll On/Roll Off

39

General

7

Towboats

5,285

Passenger/Ferries

606

Dredges

458

Tank Barges

4,250

Dry Cargo Barges

27,937

Railroad Car Floats

24
TOTAL: 39,785 Vessels
Sources: Maritime Administration
World Dredging Mining and Construction
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Manpower Pool

The pool of skilled labor actively employed on U.S.-flag vessels is considered a national security asset, able to meet surge-shipping requirements during times of emergency. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of year-end 2007 an estimated 64,000 people were employed in the waterborne transportation industry.

Cargo Carrying Capacity

As of 2007, the carrying capacity of the privately owned active commercial self propelled and non self-propelled U.S.-flag fleet was estimated to be (in short tons):

Tankers (over 10,000 DWT)

3,854,910

  

Tankers (under 10,000 DWT

5,021,281

  

Dry Bulk Carriers (over 10,000 DWT)

581,022

  

Dry Bulk Carriers (under 10,000 DWT)

6,916,926

  

Containerships (over 10,000 DWT)

3,195,351

  

Roll On/Roll Off

816,368

  

General

145,592

  

Tank Barges

12,799,769

  

Dry Cargo Barges

45,293,632

  

Railroad Car Floats

82,210

  
TOTAL: 78,707,061

Passenger*

Towboats

439,597 capacity

10,068,869 horsepower

 
* Includes ferries, cruise vessels, day excursion vessels, vehicular and railroad car ferries, etc.
Sources: Maritime Administration
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Taxes Paid by the Maritime Industry

In addition to federal and state corporate and personal income taxes, the commercial maritime industry pays a number of other federal taxes yearly in order to operate both domestically and internationally. Eleven federal agencies were identified as levying a total of 124 diverse assessments, 85 of which are specific to and paid only by the maritime industry. Such taxes include the Harbor Maintenance Tax, vessel entry processing fees, vessel tonnage tax, and an inland waterways fuel tax.

The 10 agencies for which taxes are collected include:

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