US Merchant Marine Fleet Shrinking?

JAGman

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
53
Hi, been on these forums "lurking" for some time, but this is my first post.
As someone who is considering USMMA, I have done some research into the options available upon graduation. One of the things I have read is that the US Merchant Marine fleet is shrinking (due to foreign labor being cheaper, stricter safety laws, etc.) which equals less well paying jobs. Is this a realistic concern I should have in regards to USMMA/Merchant Marine, or is it just blown out of proportion?
 
Last edited:
There is a lot more to this question then I care to type about. The gulf will drive plenty of jobs for US Mariners for at least the next 10 years. The growth and pay there has freed up a lot of other sectors and driven wages up across the board.

So no, I wouldn't have any concern about finding a job out of KP. The question is how good of a job will it be... and honestly even the bad jobs still have you making more then the average college graduate and working half the amount of time as the average college graduate. No one at KP is fretting about finding a good job, just fretting about finding a great job.
 
Some parts of the US fleet are shrinking while others are growing. Jobs in some segments of the Maritime Industry are becoming scarce while in others, its the people to fill all the job that are scarce.

I think you get the picture ... the industry is changing (it has been in a state of change since Noah) and it won't be a matter of "a" job, but "which" job.
 
Back
Top