The United States was once the world’s leading shipbuilding power. During World War II, American shipyards produced thousands of vessels and helped supply the industrial foundation for victory at sea. Today, however, the U.S. builds fewer than 10 oceangoing commercial vessels per year, while China produces more than 1,000.

In his paper, “How the United States Can Reindustrialize Its Merchant Shipbuilding Industry" -- which he discussed on the Talk a Little, Learn a Lot podcast recently -- Christopher Carroll examines how the United States reached this point and what it would take to rebuild its maritime industrial base. The paper argues that the decline of U.S. merchant shipbuilding is not simply a funding problem. It is the result of unstable demand, premature contracting before designs are mature, workforce shortages, and weakened institutional capacity.

Carroll connects commercial shipbuilding directly to national security. Without a strong merchant shipbuilding sector, the United States faces greater risk in sealift, logistics, supply-chain resilience, and fleet sustainment. The paper also highlights how procurement instability and design immaturity can drive delays and cost overruns, using the Constellation-class frigate as one example of how changing requirements can undermine production.

A second major theme is workforce. Shipbuilding depends on skilled trades, experienced supervisors, and long-term training pipelines. When demand is inconsistent, workers leave for other industries, shipyards hesitate to invest, and the industrial base becomes harder to rebuild.

The paper’s recommendations include multi-year procurement guarantees, stronger design-maturity requirements before contract award, Maritime Prosperity Zones in the Great Lakes region, a national maritime workforce apprenticeship program, and lower barriers to entry for smaller vessel classes and unmanned platforms.

For naval engineers, policymakers, and maritime professionals, the paper raises an urgent question: if industrial capacity is a foundation of naval power, what must the United States do now to rebuild it?

Main image caption: SAN DIEGO (Feb. 21, 2026) The amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) arrives at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) shipyard dry dock, Feb. 21, 2026. America entered the dry dock in support of a regularly scheduled maintenance period for modernization and repairs. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Melseth)