The Executive Order (EO) released by President Trump in April 2025 opens with a blunt assessment of America's position in global shipbuilding - and it does not pull any punches. "Both our allies and our strategic competitors produce ships for a fraction of the cost needed in the United States. Recent data shows that the United States constructs less than one percent of commercial ships globally, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is responsible for producing approximately half. Rectifying these issues requires a comprehensive approach that includes: 1. securing consistent, predictable, and durable Federal funding, 2. making United States-flagged and built vessels commercially competitive in international commerce, 3. rebuilding America’s maritime manufacturing capabilities (the Maritime Industrial Base), and 4. expanding and strengthening the recruitment, training, and retention of the relevant workforce" These four pillars form the backbone of the administration's strategy, but each comes with its own deeply rooted challenges. Select one and give your thoughts. I have always subscribed to the belief that you cannot come up with solutions unless you first understand the problems. I have views on all 4, however I'll start with just peeling off the top layer (of many layers) of #3 since I have ALOT of experience in this area. Again, this only scratches the surface. In future posts, I’ll dig deeper into how we can rebuild a distributed, resilient, and competitive maritime industrial base — one that includes every yard, every region, and every worker. America's maritime manufacturing base has not just declined - it has thinned, consolidated, and lost resilience. One of the many contributors to this decline has been due to the nation's focus on protecting only a select few of the shipbuilders in the U.S. There are many shipyards that build small to medium-size vessels. These small and mid‑tier yards — with many located across the Gulf Coast — represent some of the most adaptable and commercially competitive shipbuilders in the country. Yet federal policy has rarely treated them as strategic assets. Besides being limited to competing for the smaller vessels needed by our Navy and USCG, their survival has depended on their ability to compete and win commercial shipbuilding projects that serve e.g. the Offshore, Wind, Ferry, and other markets. These segments of the market are obviously very competitive, and the unique nature of the projects have resulted in the small to medium size yards developing very unique knowledge, skills and abilities along the way. Such capability does not necessarily transfer to the largest yards that for decades have designed and built, e.g. submarines and aircraft carriers.

Thank you for joining us. Please introduce yourself and share a pic of your workspace, no matter how messy! I'll get the ball rolling. I grew up in the New Orleans area and graduated with a BS Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from UNO and later with a MBA From Nova Southeastern University (Ft Lauderdale). I have worked in the Shipbuilding industry, and a couple of others (Aerospace, Cellular, and Autonomous Vehicle) for over 35 Years. I absolutlely love New Technology. I have had the pleasure of working on many exciting projects throughout my career including the first US Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), the initial USCG 47 FT Motor Lifeboat, the USSOCOM MK V, and many others (commercial and military). I have been in Capture Mangement, Contracts, Business Development, Sales & Marketing, Engineering, R&D, Shipbuilding, Vessel Operations, Manufacturing, Logistics, and others. I am a Miami Dolphin Fan (Yeah, I know), think my Cat is Crazy, and I am always looking to learn something new. As you can tell by my workspace, it's pretty boring. Now it is Your Turn! Start by letting us know which type of content that is your highest priority to see in Talk Maritime.