Ships | Security | Women in Skilled Trades

The Thread: Rebuilding America's Fleet and the Workforce That Sails It

Good morning, Thread Readers.

In 2024, one Chinese state-owned company built more commercial ship tonnage than the entire American shipbuilding industry has produced since World War II (CSIS). Two U.S. Senators, both former Naval officers, have proposed a solution. The SHIPS for America Act (S. 1541), introduced by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), would rebuild the American fleet and the workforce that sails it. In the House, a similar bipartisan effort is being led by Reps. Trent Kelly (R-MS) and John Garamendi (D-CA) (H.R. 3151).

The SHIPS for America Act is both a national security and women's economic security bill. Women hold about 18 percent of shipbuilding jobs today (Data USA), and in welding, the yards' biggest trade, just 5 to 6 percent (BLS). An industry that needs a quarter million new workers cannot recruit from only half the population.

Now, let's dig in.

The Problem

About 80 U.S.-flagged ships sail in international commerce (DOT), down from roughly 1,288 in the early 1950s. We barely build their replacements, either: China, Korea, and Japan together build over 90 percent of the world's commercial tonnage, while the United States manages about 0.2 percent (CRS).

The crews are just as paltry. A government estimate puts the U.S. at least 1,839 mariners short of a full sealift mobilization (DOT), and most observers believe the gap has widened since.

For decades, federal subsidies covered the gap between U.S. and foreign building costs and kept the shipyards busy. When support ended in the 1980s, commercial construction fell and the work moved overseas, to Japan, then South Korea, and China (CRS). By 2010 U.S. shipbuilding had shrunk to a rounding error.

The Solution

The SHIPS for America Act sets out to rebuild the ships and the workforce at once. What the bill does:

Creates a Strategic Commercial Fleet Program with a goal of 250 U.S.-flagged, U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed ships in international commerce, awarded through competitive bids with operating agreements that can run 21 years, a vessel's working life.
Establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund, modeled on the highway and aviation trust funds, financed by duties and fees the government already collects on vessels in international commerce plus new penalties on vessels tied to Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea.
Offers a 25 percent investment tax credit for shipyard facilities and component manufacturers, and a 33 percent credit for building or rebuilding an oceangoing vessel in a U.S. yard. The tax title travels separately as S. 1536 because revenue measures must start in the House.
Requires that 100 percent of U.S. government cargo move on U.S.-flag vessels and that, within 15 years, 10 percent of cargo imported from China arrive on U.S.-flagged ships. The bill concedes these rules raise shipping costs and reimburses aid agencies for the difference from the trust fund.
Rebuilds the mariner pipeline with a national recruiting campaign, Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility for credentialed mariners and shipyard workers after ten years, and a career retention program that lets mariners keep credentials current while working ashore.
Modernizes the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's campus and declares it co-equal with the other service academies.
Supports military families with GI Bill access for mariners who sailed in combat zones, reimbursement of relicensing and business costs for spouses who move on a servicemember's orders, and a plan to move retiring servicemembers into merchant marine and shipyard jobs.

For American women and their families, the workforce opportunities are real. Shipbuilding and repair paid an average of about $83,000 in 2024, 10 percent above the average private-sector job (BLS). These are jobs not requiring a four-year degree. The Department of Labor estimates the maritime sector will need 200,000 to 250,000 additional workers over the next decade (McKinsey).

The last time in history shipyards opened their gates wide, women walked through them by the tens of thousands. During World War II, women rose from 2 percent of the shipbuilding workforce to as much as a fifth (Steamship Historical Society), and at the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond, California, one of the largest in the country, a third of the 90,000 workers were women (NPS). This industry has led before: the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy was the first federal service academy to admit women, in 1974 (USMMA), two years ahead of West Point and Annapolis.

Growing Support

Support for the bill, introduced in April 2025, has grown steadily. The Senate version has 27 bipartisan cosponsors, with 139 for the House companion. Last week, a significant portion of the bill was folded into the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act as a package of maritime amendments.

Off the Hill, maritime labor unions filed a joint statement of support (USA Maritime), and the Shipbuilders Council of America endorsed the bill (AMO). The Trump administration is rallying as well, pairing an executive order on maritime revival with a Maritime Action Plan (Norton Rose Fulbright).

Facts Be Told

Chart showing China at 53.3 percent, South Korea at 29.1 percent, Japan at 13.1 percent, and the United States at 0.1 percent of global shipbuilding

A U.S. Navy estimate reported by CSIS puts China's shipbuilding capacity at more than 230 times that of the United States, and one shipyard in Shanghai has more capacity than every American shipyard combined (CSIS).

The stakes reach well past the docks. In an overseas conflict, cargo ships typically transport 90 percent of military equipment (CRS). A country that cannot build or crew its own ships depends on someone else's fleet to supply its own forces.

Related Research

There is a lot of good research behind this one. A few of the key studies and reports, if you want to dig in:

CSIS, on China's shipbuilding dominance and the U.S. capacity gap.
Congressional Research Service, on the state of U.S. shipbuilding and cargo preference.
McKinsey, on the maritime workforce the country will need this decade.
U.S. Department of Transportation, on the shortage of qualified mariners.

Moving a bill this size takes patient staff work in every corner of both chambers. The following leaders have shown tremendous bipartisan spirit in their commitment to America's national and economic security:

Greg Warren, Doug Gates, Gavin Laffoon, and Drew Weinstock with Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
Katie Campbell, Joe Russell, and Rachel Miller with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
Semaj Redd with Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS)
Rob Hurd with Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA)