Alums weigh in on seagoing fleet and mariner shortages—and MMA efforts to right the ship

At the turn of the century, the nation’s seagoing fleet of privately owned merchant vessels comprised 282 vessels: 81 containerships, 11 dry bulk carriers, 22 general cargo ships, 39 ro-ro vessels, 12 integrated tug/barge combinations, and 117 tankers.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, today’s fleet is drastically smaller. As of January 2022, the nation’s seagoing fleet of privately owned merchant vessels comprised just 178 ships, 104 fewer than two decades earlier. That’s a decline in fleet size of 37 percent.