Category: Blank Rome News

William R. Bennett III, Editor

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.

Blank Rome Global Leader: Chambers Global 2025 Ranks Blank Rome Attorneys and Shipping, Energy, International Trade, and Bankruptcy & Restructuring Practices

Chambers Global 2025 recognized Blank Rome as a global leader in Shipping: Litigation, as well as Maritime partner John D. Kimball describing him as “an experienced practitioner who handles complex shipping disputes. His practice sees him work on commercial and environmental litigation, among other disputes.” Read More »

William R. Bennett III, Editor

What an amazing news cycle for shipping during the past two years, starting with the March 2021 EVER GIVEN grounding in the Suez Canal and running through the ongoing disruptions in shipping resulting from the Houthi attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea. Add in sanctions, the dark fleet, cruise ship mishaps…well you get the picture. The point is the general public certainly has—or should have—become more aware of the impact global international shipping has on their daily lives.

But is that really the story of today’s global shipping industry? In the short term, yes, but in the long term, no. The story of today’s global shipping industry is what the maritime industry is presently doing that goes unnoticed by the public but will certainly shape the maritime industry in the future. For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will continue to be the primary source of vessel propulsion. Nevertheless, significant investment of money and human capital is being made on issues involving the use of alternative fuels and the design of future vessels, sustainability, carbon reduction, wind as a vessel propulsion source, and offshore wind as a viable alternative source of energy (at least for the United States). And, although not every alternative fuel currently being considered for vessel propulsion will become a cost-effective and efficient workable solution, and while the full-scale installation of offshore wind along the U.S. East Coast may still be a few years away, the maritime industry has proven it is open to investing in solutions leading to “clean propulsion” and “clean energy.” Consequently—being the eternal optimist—finding an alternative fuel that is a cost-effective and efficient source of vessel propulsion is not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.”