The United States is having a maritime moment. Maritime is back on the national agenda. The Maritime Action Plan, the SHIPS for America Act,and now the Administration’s August 13 memorandum on rebuilding
The United States is having a maritime moment. Maritime is back on the national agenda. The Maritime Action Plan, the SHIPS for America Act,
and now the Administration’s August 13 memorandum on rebuilding the Navy and America’s shipbuilding industrial base have renewed the conversation about rebuilding America's maritime capability. The focus on shipyards, workforce development, the merchant marine, and domestic vessel construction is both encouraging and long overdue.
After more than two decades designing commercial vessels, I’m encouraged by the attention. Engineers don't usually get excited about policy discussions, but this one feels different. As I follow these discussions, though, I keep coming back to one question: Who will design
America's next fleet?
Ships do not begin in shipyards
Ships begin with naval architects, marine engineers, production engineers, and thousands of design decisions made long before the first piece of steel is ordered. Before construction begins, owners, operators, designers, engineers, shipbuilders, equipment manufacturers, classification societies, and regulators must determine what a vessel is expected to accomplish, which technologies suit its mission, how those systems will work together, and how it can be built safely, efficiently, and economically.
One thing I've learned over my career is that successful projects
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