Shipbuilding is one of the oldest industries in the United States. The industry has been a major provider for both military and commercial interests ever since it started out. Shipbuilding industry in the United States has been prospering after the economic meltdown with a registered growth rate of 5.6% per year and accounting for a staggering $17.6 billion output. New cruise ships will help push future sales as older US passengers increasingly take to the seas.
The US shipbuilding industry has built and continues to build a variety of merchant and military vessels. The numbers of vessels built in the different decades have not varied greatly. For merchant construction, however, the types of vessels have changed dramatically. The passenger and breakbulk cargo vessels are no longer built, other vessel types having replaced them, such as container, roll-on/roll-off, barge carrier and liquefied natural gas ships. Naval vessels have experienced changes within classes rather than changes in basic mission.
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Source: researchandmarkets, September 7, 2011; Image:nassco