{"id":5300,"date":"2025-10-21T15:58:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/?p=5300"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T20:58:42","slug":"in-the-offing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aapaseaports.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/21\/in-the-offing\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Offing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Feature<\/div>\n
Opportunities for Cooperation in US and Canadian Shipbuilding<\/div>\n
By Lori Musser<\/span><\/div>\n
\"in
ISTOCK.COM<\/a>\/NIGHTMAN1965<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

B<\/span>oth the United States and Canada had prominent shipbuilding industries even before they were considered nations. Today, these industries still serve critical national roles, and they remain vital for the private sector too. To maintain relevance moving forward, binational public- or private-sector cooperation might prove helpful.<\/p>\n

A Colonial Power Move<\/h2>\n

During the colonial era, the territories that eventually became the US and Canada had substantial timber and other key resources for shipbuilding. They also inherited some shipbuilding know-how from Europe, along with an imperative to generate and mobilize new trade and economic benefits for the European colonial powers.<\/p>\n

The role of shipbuilding was pivotal in shaping the economies and societies of North America because of trade, and also because of the United States\u2019 and Canada\u2019s almost 138,000 miles of coastline, more or less. [While Popular Mechanics says it is impossible to accurately measure a coastline, the CIA World Factbook took a crack at it and reported that Canada has far and away the longest coastline in the world, with about 125,567 miles, while the United States comes in ninth, with 12,380 miles of coast.]<\/p>\n

Booms and Busts<\/h2>\n

The bane of shipyards has always been cyclicality. In a Hub.ca<\/a> deep dive into Canadian shipbuilding in June 2025, entitled, \u201cIt\u2019s time to end the boom-and-bust cycle of Canadian shipbuilding,\u201d Richard Shimooka said that the shipbuilding industry that began in Canada in the mid-17th century saw a downturn following the transfer of power from France to Great Britain, then a lift at the prospect of war with the United States in 1812, then another jump during the \u201cGolden Age of Sail\u201d in the mid-19th century. Later, a collapse at the turn of the 20th-century brought about by a switch to metal construction, and steam power was soon followed by a resurgence during WWI and WWII \u2014 and then yet another lull.<\/p>\n

Shimooka concluded that ending the boom-bust cycle would be in Canada\u2019s best interests and would provide the Canadian Navy and other government agencies with the ships they need to carry out their missions, providing security for the country, diversifying the economy, creating a pipeline of skilled trade workers, and building an important innovation hub. \u201cRelying on this historical pillar of strength will be critical for Canada\u2019s future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the US-based shipbuilding sector has alternately suffered and prospered. Naval Warfare reporter Megan Eckstein, in an analysis published by Defense News at the end of 2023, said that, \u201cFrom 1953 to 2016, the number of US shipyards capable of building large, oceangoing military and commercial vessels declined from 30 to six, and their annual output declined from 60 to seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2024 McKinsey & Company report entitled \u201cCharting a new course: The untapped potential of American shipyards\u201d said, \u201cUS shipbuilding output has decreased by more than 85 percent since the 1950s, while the number of American shipyards capable of building large vessels has fallen by more than 80 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shipyards challenges, as reported by McKinsey & Company, range from talent gaps to outdated operating models. \u201cThe US has gone from building 5.0 percent of the world\u2019s ocean-going commercial ships in the 1970s to building about 0.2 percent today, as measured by gross tonnage. Conversely, China, Japan, and South Korea now combine for more than 90 percent of global commercial shipbuilding,\u201d according to the McKinsey report.<\/p>\n

A lot of folks want to change that. The US Navy\u2019s shipbuilding budget has already been increasing. \u201cIts most recent 30-year plan calls for the construction of 290 to 340 new ships by 2053,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Latent Capacity<\/h2>\n

In Canada, there are a handful of large-scale shipyards, but as many as 50 more small-scale yards, often specializing in offshore drilling, fishing, rescue, and other crafts. Made in CA reports there is shipyard capacity to be had in Canada, especially given the recent investment by the National Shipbuilding Strategy, or NSS.<\/p>\n

The Shipbuilders Council of America counts 80 member facilities based in the US The US is said to have \u201csubstantial latent shipbuilding, sustainment, and repair capacity, including aging but not obsolete capital assets, and a strong base of potential skilled-trade labor,\u201d according to the McKinsey report.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good, because North American industrial waterfrontage is in short supply. As the shipbuilding industry evolves, with perhaps new developments in vessels and watercraft, there may be only a handful of potential locations for new shipyards.<\/p>\n

Jon Nass, CEO and Executive Director of Gulfport, said that the port\u2019s deepwater west pier has a 200-acre southward-expansion US Army Corps permit in hand, and the site would make an ideal location maritime industrial activity such as ship or crane construction. The port already houses several high-tech industries with ocean tech elements and collaborations.<\/p>\n