U.S. Shipbuilding Capacity | Reality Check
Stating the obvious: the U.S. wants more American-built ships. Less obvious: how many ships can America’s biggest shipyards build?
In the past decade, large ocean-going commercial vessels built in America originated from one of four domestic shipyards: General Dynamics NASSCO (NASSCO), Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Seatrium AmFELS, and the former VT Halter (now part of Bollinger Shipyards).
What was the peak productivity from these four yards during that time?
NASSCO: 6 product tankers (2016)
Philly Shipyard: 3 product tankers (2016)
VT Halter: 2 container vessels (2018)
Seatrium AmFELS: 1 large commercial vessel (2023)
Assuming all four shipyards are simultaneously operating at peak capacity, they produce a total of 12 large ocean-going vessels annually.
Keeping in mind past peak production levels and current projects, the next logical question is: exactly what shipbuilding capacity is the U.S. is hoping to achieve?
The SHIPS for America Act targets 250 U.S.-built vessels in the Strategic Commercial Fleet by 2035. 250 ships over a 10-year time horizon would be 25 ships built per year.
The U.S. would need to more than double its peak shipbuilding capacity to hit that target–ignoring the major timeline variables of (1) first bringing additional shipyard capacity online and (2) balancing government vs. commercial shipbuilding needs.
These four large domestic yards also have an existing orderbook to work through.
NASSCO’s building a series of oilers for the U.S. Navy through 2035. It is unclear if NASSCO could deliver any commercial ships before then.
Philly’s working through their orderbook that stretches into 2027, their deadline to complete the last of 3 containerships for U.S. transportation services company Matson.
VT Halter, acquired by Bollinger in 2022, is working to deliver icebreakers as per an albatross of a contract with the U.S. government.
Seatrium AmFELS continues to focus on building the first U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel for Dominion Energy–infamously behind schedule and over budget.
