The report, compiled by the US Maritime Administration,
states that California has 7.6 percent of the country’s shipbuilding market,
behind Virginia with 24.9 percent, Louisiana with 12.1 percent, Mississippi at
9.4 percent and Connecticut with 8.3 percent.
California employs 8,100 dockworkers in shipbuilding and
ship repair, accounting for $777 million in gross domestic product, according
to the report.
Washington state ranks ninth on the list with 3.3 percent of
the shipbuilding market, according to the MARAD data.
Currently there are 117 shipyards spread across 26 US states
that are classified as active shipbuilders. In addition, there are over 200
shipyards engaged in ship repairs or capable of building ships but not actively
engaged in shipbuilding, according to MARAD. The majority of shipyards are
located in the coastal states, but there are also active shipyards on major
inland waterways such as the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Ohio
River.
Employment in shipbuilding and repairing is concentrated in
a relatively small number of coastal states, with the top five states
accounting for 62 percent of all private employment in the shipbuilding and
repairing industry.
The nation’s shipyards support $36 billion in gross domestic
product, the report says. It also notes that although most shipbuilders are
located in coastal areas, the direct and indirect economic benefits reach all
50 states.
For example, in 2011 the nation’s more than 300 shipyards
directly provided more than 107,000 jobs, $7.9 billion in labor income to the
national economy and contributed $9.8 billion in gross domestic product.
The average income for these industry jobs is $73,000, 45
percent higher than the national average, according to the report.
From 2010 to 2012, deliveries of vessels of all types --
including tugs and towboats, passenger vessels, commercial and fishing vessels,
and oceangoing and inland barges -- exceeded 1,200 vessels per year, reaching
1,457 vessels in 2011.
The report, titled The Economic Importance of the U.S.
Shipbuilding and Repairing Industry, can be seen at http://www.marad.dot.gov/documents/MARAD_Econ_Study_Final_Report_2013.pdf.
