The ability of our shipyards to survive in the face of lower foreign wage and material costs, needs to be sustained through continued application of the construction cost parity principle embodied in the 1936 Merchant Marine Act. However, reduction of construction differential subsidy must constantly be sought through improved shipyard facilities, accelerated technological advancement, standardized design whenever practical, and an impelling motivation to overcome the industrial advantages of foreign competition. Since construction differential subsidy constitutes assistance to the shipyards themselves rather than the ship operator, it would appear appropriate that financial a relationship support by the government be established as solely and directly between the government and the shipbuild ers themselves. These and other measures must be taken to provide a healthy The following shipyard capability in the United States. tables spell out succinctly the world situation in merchant ship construction including our own current world shipbuilding status. DELIVERIES OF NEW MERCHANT SHIPS (ALL TYPES) DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1965. INCLUDES ONLY COUNTRIES FOR WHICH 10 OR MORE OCEANGOING STEAM OR MOTOR SHIPS OF 1000 GROSS TONS AND OVER WERE CONSTRUCTED. (Excludes ships built for operation on Great Lakes, Inland Waterways; Armed Forces; and special type such as tugs, ferries, cable ships, etc.) 1/ Of the 13 maritime nations having 10 or more new ships delivere: to their registry in 1965, only four constructed all in their own yards. Of the five leading nations for whose registry ships were constructed, two--Norway and U.S.S.R.--built predominately in foreig” yards; one--Liberia--built solely in foreign yards (flag of registry only); one--Japan--built solely in domestic yards; and one--the United Kingdom--built predominately in its own domestic yards. If we consider the total of some 43 nations for whose registry new ships were delivered in 1965, more comprehensive statistics are revealed. Only five--the United States, Italy, Japan, Poland and Spain were known to have constructed all their own ships in their 1 Figures taken from "New Ship Construction--Report No. Mar.- 560-21, issued by Maritime Administration July 1, 1966, Page 4. own yards. 32 of the 43 countries, however, utilized foreign yards in varying degrees. 9 of these utilized both foreign and domestic yards while for 6 countries, the actual shipyards were unidentified. 1/ Of the 15 principal shipbuilding nations selected by the Maritime Administration for its new construction listings, only the United States built no ships for any other nation. 2/ This weakness in our shipbuilding situation is most vividly portrayed by the following tables covering total numbers of ships, gross tonnage and Dead Weight Tonnage--constructed for 1965 deliveries by the respective countries. 3/ DELIVERIES OF NEW MERCHANT SHIPS (ALL TYPES) DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1/ Figures taken from "New Ship Construction Report No. Mar. 560-21" issued by the Maritime Administration July 1, 1966, Page 4. |