612 
political or military role in times of peace, has concentrated on profita- 
ble liner routes to the more industrialized countries. It has been sug- 
gested that the United States develop a profitable program for Amer- 
ican-flag merchant ships to trade with selected Third World countries. 
Such programs could take the form of negotiated bilateral cargo 
preference agreements. Such agreements could enhance political, 
economic, and cultural ties between the United States and the contract 
nations. 
Many additional merchant ships must be constructed if the current 
percentage of U.S. overseas trade shipped in U.S. flag vessels is to 
be maintained. At the current building rate (about 12 new ships 
per year), the United States will not be able to maintain even the 
status quo in shipping in U.S. flag vessels. Under existing law, the 
United States cannot subsidize vessels for the world market nor can 
shipping companies receive an operating subsidy for foreign-built ships. 
To improve efficiency in ship construction at home and lower con- 
struction subsidies, the General Accounting Office suggested that one 
option for U.S. shipyards is to specialize in construction of ships 
requiring no or little government subsidies, such as, for example, 
LNG carriers, and to import other ships from abroad. It has been 
suggested that a combination of specialization in some yards for the 
world market, while continuing to construct a variety of other ships 
in other U.S. shipyards, would lower overall subsidies, increase total 
productivity in the industry, provide additional incentives to develop 
advances technology, and still maintain the capability to construct 
any other type of vessel in case of emergency.’ 
The American shipbuilding industry has made a few major contribu- 
tions in the advancement of world shipping technology in the decades 
since World War II. With the Mariner Class freighter, designed and 
built under MARAD auspices, the United States led the way in ad- 
vancing cargo ship speeds to 20 knots from the old 15 knot norm. 
Since that development of the 1950’s, several major advances in cargo 
ship design have been pioneered by our naval architects, builders, 
and carriers, including the containership, the Lighter-aboard Ship 
(LASH) barg carrier and the Sea Barge ship, the first liquefied natural 
gas (LNG) carrier, and the advancement of roll-on/roll-off tech- 
nology.'® 
U.S. maritime technolgy has been transferred abroad. In fact, some 
of our most advanced shipbuilding technology, such as seabee cargo 
vessel designs, have been transferred, directly or indirectly, to the 
Soviet Union. Both roll-on/roll-off and seabee cargo vessels add signifi- 
cantly to the economics of maritime transportation and are also of 
great importance for rapid transportation of armament under almost 
any port conditions. With relatively minor adjustments, roll-on/roll- 
off, LASH, and Seabee ships can provide an invaluable base for con- 
version to combat roles in a future period of sustained crisis or war.’ 
62 Ibid., pp. 754-757. 
The GAO quotes the example of high-wage Sweden, where 89 percent of ship construction is for 
the export market in spite of the fact that current wages in that industry are higher than in the 
United States. The Swedes fully exploited economies of scale, specialization and advanced technolo- 
OY 1 Ibid. p. 383. 
164 Transportation Institute, op. cit., p. 4-3. 
