BACKGROUNDER
No. 3782 | AUGUST 16, 2023
This paper, in its entirety, can be found at https://report.heritage.org/bg3782
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Rebuilding America’s Maritime
Strength: A Shipping Proof-
of-Concept Demonstration
Brent D. Sadler and Peter St Onge
The United States needs to modernize
its domestic maritime sector, which will
require partnering with dependable long-
time maritime allies.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A successful demonstration of the new
multi-modalism would provide key
insights into the engineering challenges
and operational costs.
American shipping and shipbuilding have
atrophied, yet domestic industry and
capacity for innovation remain strong.
F
or years the United States has neglected a core
element of its security and prosperity—its
commercial maritime strength. Of the more
than 80,000 ships arriving at American ports, fewer
than 200 are U.S.-flagged, -owned, and -crewed.
1
American shipping and shipbuilding have atrophied,
but this problem can be solved. The United States
needs to unleash American potential to ensure that
the nation’s security and prosperity are not hostage
to the whims of unfriendly nations.
Despite the best intentions of the century-old
Jones Act,
2
the few ships that are domestically
produced, flagged, and crewed are not competi-
tive in the world marketplace. One estimate from
the Department of Defense’s U.S. Transportation
Command estimates that regulatory costs, man-
dates, and labor costs render U.S.-produced ships
