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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

This is On Point. I'm Megyn Chakrabardi.

The U.S. Merchant Marine is often referred to as the fourth arm of defense alongside the Army, Navy, and Air Force. These are civilian mariners who are critical to sea-based

commerce during peacetime and essential for the secure transport of military supplies during

wartime. And the U.S. needs more of them, a lot more. As early as 2017, the Maritime Administration found that the shortage of mariners

was significant enough that the nation could not sustain full activation of what's known as

the Ready Reserve Force and commercially operated vessels to meet sea lift needs.

Then U.S. Maritime Administrator, Rear Admiral Ann Phillips,

speaking with the American Maritime podcast last March. We already know there's a mariner

shortfall in 2017. Pre-COVID, a study was done by the maritime administration that showed that

over the course of a six-month stand-up, similar to Desert

Storm, we were short about 1800 mariners. Then came COVID. Mariner's found themselves stranded.

They were not able to leave their ships. They didn't get reliefs. They were stranded overseas in

shipyards. They were stranded other places in ports.

People began to leave the industry by voting with their feet, and it became much harder and

much more challenging. Well, President Donald Trump has his eye on the American shipping industry.

Just last month, in his address to Congress, Trump announced an executive order aimed at reviving U.S. shipbuilding and cutting China's global dominance of the maritime industry.

To boost our defense industrial base, we are also going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding

and military shipbuilding.

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