U.S. News
Navy Forced to Sideline 17 Ships Amid Critical Merchant Marine Shortage
Clear Facts
- The U.S. Navy plans to take 17 vessels out of regular operation due to a shortage of Merchant Marines.
- The Merchant Marines, who are not official military members but serve as an auxiliary during wartime, are facing a significant manpower shortage.
- The Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) will put these ships into “extended maintenance” and redistribute their crews to other vessels.
The U.S. Navy is facing a critical manpower shortage that has forced officials to plan the sidelining of 17 ships. This decision stems from an alarming lack of Merchant Marines, the civilian mariners who are essential for operating these vessels.
The Merchant Marines, managed by both the federal government and the private sector, have lost too much manpower to “properly crew and operate ships across the fleet,” according to recent reports.
Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation for the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, highlighted the core issue:
“The problem, of course, is the ships are at sea, away from home port 12 months of the year.”
These mariners, while not officially part of the U.S. military, play a crucial role during wartime or national emergencies, as noted by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Maritime Administration.
Montgomery further emphasized the severity of the situation:
“We’re desperately short of the number of people.”
“There’s a lack of experienced merchant mariners to crew the ships, and this is really a clear danger to national security,” he added.
As a result, the Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) has planned to place 17 ships into “extended maintenance,” according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
Sources revealed that this includes “two Lewis and Clark replenishment ships, one fleet oiler, a dozen Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) and two forward-deployed Navy expeditionary sea bases” set for “force generation reset,” with their crews being redistributed to other ships.
Montgomery pointed out that this issue predominantly affects the Merchant Marines:
“The sailors tend to man our warships … the merchant mariners man something that’s equally important, which is the logistics backbone of the Navy — oilers, ammo ships, transports ships that move the Army and Marine Corps across the water.”
He also noted the logistical importance of ships:
“Just like 90 percent of trade is done by ships and not aircrafts, the same thing applies at sea: It’s too difficult, too expensive — it’s not sufficient to move all that stuff by aircraft, so it’s moved by ships.”
The sidelining of these 17 ships underscores a significant vulnerability in national security logistics, emphasizing the urgent need to address the manpower shortage within the Merchant Marines.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Fred Schurkus
September 4, 2024 at 6:04 am
Has anyone thought to ask potential merchant marine recruits why they are not signing up? It seems to me that knowing their answers would be useful in future recruiting efforts, so these ships and others could be put back to work. Or could the navy staff them with sailors? Although I’m guessing there is a shortage of them too.
Kamikazecowboy
September 4, 2024 at 7:17 am
Mandatory service, these idiot college scum want their college debt forgiven, fine, for each year of mandatory service they have one year of their wasted college paid for
Cosmo Aussie
September 4, 2024 at 10:16 am
America IS OVER as a nation, and for anyone who can’t see it, my heart goes out to them because they are wilfully BLIND! She lasted for 238 years and she is now UNRECOVERABLE. It’s only going to get WORSE!
Dan
September 4, 2024 at 10:19 am
Few want to be deployed for a year at a time away from home. That schedule alone will keep younger folks away from the service. Perhaps changing that would attract more young folks to join.
The USN has big problems with recruiting too, so robbing from Peter to give to Paul is not a strategy.
What are the millions of fighting aged men that crossed our border doing? Go to those hotels housing these illegals and
recruit them to gain citizenship.
Ronald G Pearson
September 4, 2024 at 12:02 pm
70% of all college courses are basket weaving courses that lead to no basic skill of any kind. What needs to be emphasized are technical trade schools! The college loan program needs to be stopped. What loans that are out there must be paid back. Why should a high school graduate who took up a trade be forced to pay the loans of some college student who took basket weaving to obtain a worthless college degree? What the work force needs are trade men and women, auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, etc. If you attend a trade school, let the government help pay part of the cost, fine but basket weavers need to pay their own degree choice.
Victoria
September 4, 2024 at 12:09 pm
Another sign of fallout and destruction by the Biden/Harris regime. America is at risk because of them, now and if they remain in power ongoing.
Terry
September 4, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Seems that another scheme has come true for our federal government, attacking the civilian support arm of our Navy. The sailors are professional seaman that man the Navy’s support ships. The Navy has, of the latest report, around 22,000 man shortfall on recruits so the Navy can’t man these and their combat ships. Also the shortages will require experienced officers/Petty officers/NCOs which ALL the services are continually short on. Our military has been starved of resources since the active fighting stopped in the sandbox. This, the relative good hiring market, the general lack of fitness of our youth and other factors have driven our youth away from the services. For those under 60 to 65 years, this means returning to a draft military like we had in the Vietnam era. Then we will have lots of warm bodies, but much less experience.
John Hand
September 4, 2024 at 6:56 pm
My dad joined the Navy in 1942, hurt his back coming down a net in boot camp, they discharged him honorably and he went right over to the Merchant Marine and signed up. Became a second cook on one of those ‘Liberty Ships’ built by Henry J Kaiser which later made cars. He had full military pay and benefits, same as Navy. Sailed all over the Atlantic, saw ships all around him torpedoed and sank at night mostly, but his ship escaped the subs. Was at Normandy about three days after the landings and said ‘you could walk on the bodies in the water to reach the beach.’ I don’t know if he was exaggerating but I suspect no so much. Didn’t talk much about what he did or saw, but I do know he met lots of interesting people, some who came all the way to Ohio to see him after the war. Brought home some war booty, including a Nazi helmet with the name ‘Rup’ written inside the headband, so I always wondered whatever happened to the German soldier named Rup. Dad still imagined himself to be a cook after the war and would always make spahetti on Saturday. (no complaints here). But when he made it, it was in quantities designed to feed a ships crew, in other words more than our family of five could eat. I saw his Liberty ship in dock (Sheepshead Bay) in 1944 when he took me out to the end of the pier to see it, and I remember, at the age of 6 looking up, and up at the bow of that ship. On that trip to NYC to see dad my mother recognized Guy Lombardo outside an Italian restaurant and he invited us in to enjoy a meal with him. No, I don’t remember if he paid, probably. So my dad served, saw the world, brought back lots of memories both good and bad, and for years after would wake up in bed with the sweats from the malaria he had contracted. That eventually went away. I was surprised to see this article and to know that out there somewhere, is still a form of the Merchant Marine.
CharlieSeattle
September 5, 2024 at 2:31 am
A self inflicted problem by the WOKE DEI CRT ESG DOD TopBrASS.