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If we could restore our numbers to early 2000 levels, who would they be crewed by? We can barely man our anemic merchant fleet as it stands today. The US is well on its way to becoming a post-maritime power, which is a direct result of becoming a post-industrial power.
"Time to Meet the US Mariner Shortage Head On"
If we could restore our numbers to early 2000 levels, who would they be crewed by? We can barely man our anemic merchant fleet as it stands today. The US is well on its way to becoming a post-maritime power, which is a direct result of becoming a post-industrial power.
"Time to Meet the US Mariner Shortage Head On"
https://www.marinelink.com/news/time-meet-us-mariner-shortage-head-505263
Can we train some of those recent, illegal immigrants as sailors?
The road to citizenship lies through the military in a war.
There are lots of folks who gained citizenship by enlisting in peacetime. Guy down the street was born in Antigua; after eight years in the USMC, we let him in; permanently.
My Company had guys from Korea, Philippines, Domenica and even one from Germany, There was one Japanese who worked in S-2.
USMC as well.
my platoon had guys from.....Detroit! really, fer true!
Worked out great for the Romans.
For the first few hundred years - yes, it did. The minimum 25 years of service as an auxilia did wonders for ingraining Roman principles into a provincial. An excellent scholar on Roman citizenship is Professor Lavan in the school of Classics at University of St. Andrews. Taking Juan Valdez from the coffee plantations of Columbia and putting him in the US Army motor pool for 4-and-out might not have the same result.
Like the ones who beat up the policeman in NYC?
All crimes are the fault of immigrants. No native born USAer ever did a crime.
If you are here illegally you've already broken the law.
Why have a border at all then? Just come on in, Free cell phone, lodging, healthcare and a bus or plane trip to anywhere you like. Make sure you show up for court in ten years,
False. But the odds that any given crime was committed by an illegal immigrant are pretty high.
Train as??? .... do we even have a suitable training pipeline anymore (speaking of the merchant marine)?
Is the Merchant Marine Academy in Kingspoint on Long Island even still open??
It is still open and still a backstop for young people who didn't get into Annapolis.
I was thinking of the people who fill the jobs who are not graduates of the merchant marine academies.
Sorta. Compulsory periodic training for existing mariners has created a few dozen training schools across the US. However, the training 'pipeline' is to go through a diversion program at tge Seafarer's union school to avoid jail and learn how not to stab each other... or if you have no criminal records simply get seaman's papers and a TWIC card and get a job. Entry level guys get on the job training. For Officers it's 4 years of pretending to be in a college that is pretending to be in the military... or working your way up through experience, which takes a lot longer.
"simply get seaman's papers "
It wasn't simple when I tried. Of course, that was a few decades ago. I am sure things have gotten better with the increased demand for merchant seamen.
We can always institute a draft and draft Migrants.
Bear: They can bring their own inner tubes.
With a Matai and and umbrella in a glass LOL.
Why the crap that is coming across the border? Filipinos make up over a quarter of the sailors in the world merchant fleet. They tend to work their butts off and get paid crap. Offer them (through Congressional legislation) non-citizen US National status out of the gate and an expedited pathway to citizenship.
At least the majority of Filipinos _LIKE_ the USA to begin with. Unlike most of the dregs from the Middle East.
There are surprisingly few Filipinos in the US merchant fleet... because there are much easier ways to make money once you have a green card. Also, since there aren't many ships at all, there isn't enough of a shortage of mariners today to justify destroying the job market by diluting the job pool with 3rd worlders... there are tens of thousands of Americans mariners who work on tugs and smaller vessels who choose not to work on ships because the money and lifestyle sucks there.
Thanks Paul. The original thesis was how do we man a merchant marine where we build the vessels necessary to get us close to the late 90's in capability. I do not support introducing foreign mariners into the pitiful fleet of 2024 and demorilizing US merchantmen even further.
The Pinoy we had were mostly in the Co and Xo officers mess aboard ship,, some were Grunts though.
Hard Core guys.
USCG and IMO have sytematically made it harder for hawsepipe officers and vastly more expensive. Academy trained officers have many shoreside opportunities and no commitment to the industry so they come for a few years and cash out. It's even worse with women since they are gone shoreside almost immediately. An utter waste of time space and resources if the intent is to maintain a cadre of seagoing officers against future need.
Good point about the IMO. That thick bloated bureaucracy is not doing us any favors.
It's my humble opinion that the regs are designed to hamstring mariners from countries (ie china, pi) that dont subsidize training.