History professor speaks before Senate committee on shipbuilding

Dr. Sal Mercogliano offers insight on history, importance of U.S. shipbuilding industry as Senate considers SHIPS for America bill

Campbell University Associate Professor of History Dr. Sal Mercogliano spoke before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime and Fisheries during a two-hour Oct. 28 hearing in Washington, D.C., on U.S. shipbuilding.

Mercogliano - an expert in maritime history, nautical archaeology and maritime industry policy and nationally known for his popular YouTube channel on maritime shipping - was one of three witnesses called by the subcommittee to share their insight on reviving the country's commercial shipbuilding and the Trump Administration's upcoming Maritime Action Plan. The hearing, titled "Sea Change: Reviving Commercial Shipbuilding" came on the heels of bipartisan legislation introduced to the Senate in April, "SHIPS for America," which aims to revitalize the industry nationally to both boost the economy and national security.

Mercogliano spoke on the country's history of commercial shipbuilding, which surged during World War I and World War II.

"The SHIPS Act is the most significant maritime reform effort since the Merchant Marine Act of 1970 [under President Richard Nixon]," Mercogliano said. "This legislation represents a critical step towards transforming the United States from a purely naval power into a true maritime power with a revitalized commercial sector."

Asked by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) about the challenges the country faces in domestic shipbuilding, Mercogliano responded, "We didn't lose shipbuilding; we shifted shipbuilding. We decided to focus on naval military and allow the commercial to go overseas, because we viewed that naval capability was a much larger capability to have. And we assumed there would be a residual left over from that. However, what we saw happen - especially in the 80s and into the 90s with the end of the Cold War - all of the sudden, our capacity decreased. And we did not foresee the coordinated effort by the Chinese to take over in a way that we really had never seen before. China has done a pure vertical integration of all aspects of shipping unlike any other country."

In addition to ship construction in the U.S., Mercogliano talked of the importance of "reflagging vessels in the U.S. registry." He also suggested the Maritime Security and Tanker Security programs should be "expanded to offset higher operating costs."

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) offered the opening statement before the Oct. 28 hearing, stressing the bipartisan approach to the SHIPS bill and saying the country needs more American-built and American-crewed ships to "expand global trade, protect our supply chain and bolster national security."

"Following decades of decline, the United States constructs just 0.2 percent of the world's commercial shipping tonnage, while China, South Korea and Japan build more than 90 percent," she said. "In fact, in 2022, China had 1,794 commercial ocean-going ships under construction. South Korea had 734, Japan had 587, Europe had 319, and the United States, we were just building five."

Mercogliano has been with Campbell since 2010, and in addition to teaching, he is chair of the History, Criminal Justice and Political Science Department at the University. He holds a B.S. in Marine Transportation from SUNY Maritime College along with a merchant marine deck officer license. He left government service to earn an M.A. in Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology from East Carolina University and his Ph.D. in Military and Naval History from the University of Alabama.

In 2021, he launched the YouTube channel "What's Going on With Shipping," after appearing on several national and international news outlets as an expert after the Ever Given incident that year, which blocked the Suez Canal and shut down a large piece of international shipping for a week. His YouTube channel has more than 560,000 subscribers and more than 118 million views in the last four years.

Mercogliano has appeared at conferences in Charlotte, Maryland, Buffalo, Houston, Philadelphia, Virginia and Australia and New Zealand since September, and he is scheduled to appear at the Workboat Conference in New Orleans in December.