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58 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • NOVEMBER 2014 WORKBOAT ANNUAL To start off, in your view what is the current “State of the Shipbuilding & Ship Repair” business in the United States? On the government side, fund- ing for new construction ships is always a challenge and we could always use more. Shipbuilding programs that are under serial production, such as Virgin- ia-class submarines and USCG Fast-Re- sponse Cutters, are providing stable and predictable work for yards and their sup- pliers. Ship depot maintenance is fund- ed at 100 percent, keeping our repair yards busy. On the commercial front, the shipyard industry is experiencing a boom not witnessed in decades. In addi- tion to a regular stream of patrol craft, ? re boats, ferries and tugs, we have seen an uptick in barge construction, large complex supply boats, large petroleum carriers and the recapitalization of the non-contiguous containership ? eet. From your perspective what is the status of the U.S. ship yard sector to- day as compared to any other time in your career? When you look at the industry overall, I think we are in good shape, particularly on the commercial side with all the recent new building of large ves- sels and uptick in barge construction. The defense side has its budget issues, particularly with sequestration which is still the law of the land. Some of that large vessel commercial new construc- tion, however, is helping to maintain workloads, supporting both a shared skilled workforce and supplier base, for shipyards that have traditionally built for the government. This is one example of why the U.S. Navy is a strong supporter of the Jones Act. Political support, or more accurately lack thereof, of the entire maritime sector in the U.S. is regular fodder for conversation and comment. Please give our readers the birds-eye view on PAXTON President, Shipbuilders Council Of America Five Minutes with Matthew “The domestic shale oil and gas boom has really had a positive impact on our industry. Currently, including options, 22 large product carriers are on order (including options) to meet rising domestic maritime transportation demands.” T he U.S. commercial maritime industry is enjoy- ing its most robust period in a generation, with a spate of newbuild activities spurred largely by a resurgent energy production market in the U.S. as well as new rules of vessel emissions which has forced owner to invest in new tonnage. For insight and perspective on the market Maritime Reporter & Engineering News vis- its with Matthew Paxton, who was selected to be the Presi- dent of the Shipbuilders Council of America in 2007. In this capacity he advocates for a robust and expanding U.S. ship- yard industrial base. By Greg Trauthwein Photo: SCA MR #11 (58-65).indd 58 10/30/2014 10:05:25 AM
