National Maritime Day 5/22/2021

Today is National Maritime Day, established 88 years ago by Congress to recognize the key role of our merchant marine. May 22 was selected to commemorate the first transoceanic voyage by a steamship in 1819 by the P.S. Savannah. As an interesting aside, note that P.S. stood for Paddle Steamer and would be followed by the more familiar S.S. standing for Screw Steamer when propellers replaced side paddle wheels decades later.

The role of our merchant marine in matters related to commerce and national security was well known by the time Congress created National Maritime Day. Indeed, back in 1785, John Jay recognized this national security aspect when he asked “whether it would be wise in the United States to withdraw their attention from the sea, and permit foreigners to fetch and carry for them, or to preserve in concerting and pursuing such measures as may conduce to render them a maritime power”.  

As it would turn out, the greatest expression of what our merchant marine meant for national security would become apparent less than a decade after Congress established National Maritime Day with the outbreak of WWII. The thousands of ships our yards built and the American seafarers that manned them became, as a poster at the time accurately said, the “Life Line Of Freedom”. During the war, 9497 American merchant marines were killed and 733 U.S. flag cargo ships were sunk. As 243,000 mariners served during the war, that translates into a 1 in 26 mortality rate which was actually a higher rate of casualties than experienced by any of the armed services. The casualty rate was particularly high at the start of the war. Even so, American mariners stepped forward and continued to go back to sea. No less of a subject matter expert than General Dwight D. Eisenhower underscored this in 1944 when he said, “When final victory is ours, there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine”.

We honor today the quarter million brave seafarers that served our country so well during World War II. We also honor the thousands of mariners that serve today in ways that benefit American commerce and national security. The size of our merchant marine isn’t what it should be for structural reasons that have changed the shipping industry during the postwar period. During this modern cargo shipping era, almost all the key improvements are linked to America. It is here that the ideas and processes that created modern shipbuilding and all three of the modern shipping segments were invented and developed. America remains the thought leader in the shipping industry today.  

The best way to honor the legacy of the seafarers that served in the past as well as the ones who serve today is to grow our merchant marine in both the domestic and international sectors. Achieving that goal will result in a multitude of benefits. We should look to the innovators of today, the modern day versions of the entrepreneurs that created the modern shipping segments, to develop new initiatives and concepts to unleash the further potential of America’s merchant marine. Their efforts on the supply side would be helped if Walmart, Home Depot and Target and other shippers on the demand side supported initiatives involving U.S. flag vessels. In the domestic sector, moving some cargo via water mode with cost and emission benefits even if it takes a little more time than land modes doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch. In the international sector, indicating they would give preference to U.S. flag if container rates were within 10% of foreign flag rates would be a tangible way to demonstrate support and such a modest spread should be attainable with large container ships today.

There is something about the broader shipping industry that has people less aware of its impact on their daily lives. I refer to in a recent article published in Medium titled “The Invisible Industry Delivering The World Economy” (link https://john-d-mccown.medium.com/the-invisible-industry-delivering-the-world-economy-7b18788cee66). Similarly, people are not generally aware of the key role our merchant marine and the supply chain it is tied into and supports have on national security today. There are still scenarios today where our merchant marine could be the life line of freedom. Founding father John Jay’s advice 236 years ago to avoid having foreigners fetch and carry for us remains on point today. On this National Maritime Day, everyone should be resolved to redouble efforts to grow our merchant marine.