What is the U.S. Merchant Marine?

Overview

Would you like living without common conveniences such as being able to order stuff from Amazon and have it show up at your front door a few days later?

Or how about going to the car dealership to pick up that new Honda?

Well, if you don't want these modern conveniences to go away, you may be interested in taking the time to learn about how these conveniences have come to exist.

The modern supply chain extends across the entire globe, which you probably already know. You also know that oceans create vast water separations between different populations (even if you're a Flat-Earther, this should be true, I think?). What you may NOT know is that there are THOUSANDS of ships manned by THOUSANDS of mariners currently sailing ships across that water carrying vital resources, such as oil, medicine, chemicals, that thing you ordered on Amazon, or even that car that you will want to buy in the next couple months. In fact, I believe the world's current Merchant fleet is currently comprised of around 60,000 to 70,000 ships!

We will do a little Q & A for this section for those questions you may have regarding all things shipping. Remember, I am an Engineer, not a Mate (see article on Ship Organization Chart) so this is just my general understanding of things. It is entirely possible that you may be able to find someone who can explain this better than I have, so more power to you! With that being said, the Q & A below will shed some light on some of the common questions asked:

Q&A Section

What is the Merchant Marine or What is a Merchant Mariner?

This is a common question. Just straight off the bat I will say that no, merchant marines have NOTHING to do with being in the Marine Corps, the name is the only thing the two professions have in common. Well, that is not ENTIRELY true because there are some facets of the Merchant Marine that do intersect with the Marine Corps and the Military in general. For example, did you know that the Marine Corps has supply ships that are operated by civilians?

The Merchant Marine is a community that is loosely comprised of all commercial mariners in the United States. From Inland Waterways to the Open Ocean, from small boats to large ships, the mariners that operate those vessels commercially together make up what people call the "U.S. Merchant Marine" community. I'm sure there is some technical definition somewhere, but all you need to know is that this is what the U.S. Merchant Marine community is comprised of. I would say that my personal definition is that a merchant mariner is someone who works as a professional Mate, Engineer, Supply, or member of some other department on an Ocean-going vessel.

As a whole, the worldwide Merchant Marine community essentially is what enables the current globalized economy as we know it today because it is responsible for ALL overseas transportation of goods.

Who owns merchant ships and how are they regulated?

Merchant ships can be owned either by the private sector (private companies, organizations, or even individuals) or by governments. They are regulated depending on what country they're built in, what country they are "flagged" in (this will be explained below), where the ship is currently operating in the world, and what status the ship is in (I.E. Dry Dock, Maintenance Period, In Port, In Maneuvering, At Sea...etc. These will be explained in other articles). For various reasons that will be explained in an article describing the role of various government-affiliated ships vs. private civilian commercial ships, there are also some instances where government-operated ships fall under different regulations as well.

Who is responsible for regulating these ships?

This is where it gets a bit complicated but I will explain. So every ship is "flagged" in a specific country. What this means is that it is a registered vessel of THAT specific country. The best parallel for this is looking at a car. When I register a car in a specific state in the U.S. that means that the laws and regulations regarding the operation and maintenance of that car are the laws and regulations of that specific state.

When it comes to ships, each ship is flagged out of a specific country. The is to say that the ship owners are beholden to the ship operation and maintenance regulations of the flagged country. Shipowners must choose which country they want to "Flag" (register) their ship in, and do so based on costs, regulations, and opportunities it affords them regarding trade. For instance, U.S.-flagged ships can operate in U.S. ports in ways that foreign-flagged ships cannot. With that being said, if you research this, you will see that there are a few countries which seem to be the most popular countries in which to flag a ship, you can research that yourself. Ships may also be "re-flagged" in different countries, which is a commonplace and is done for various reasons.

World-wide, as well as nationally here in the U.S., there are many regulatory agencies that enforce regulations regarding ships. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) are the two agencies dealt with the most by United States Merchant Mariners. There are also international regulatory agencies such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and others that help set world-wide standards for ships and the shipping industry as a whole.

What are international waters? And how do they apply to ships?

Believe it or not, International Waters START only 12 nautical miles offshore from land. Anything outside of 12 miles out is considered to be International Waters. Anything INSIDE of that 12 nautical miles is considered to be territorial waters of whichever country the land belongs do. Ships in international waters must obey a certain set of rules that can differ from when ships are in territorial waters.

There is also an area that is called the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 200 miles out from the shoreline of any given country. This often can create disputes over which country owns which minerals or commodities contained within that 200 miles because, as you would imagine, there are many countries that have shorelines LESS than 200 miles away from other countries' shorelines, therefore they have overlapping EEZ's. As I'm writing this, I am thinking that there may be some sort of international law or something that deals with this issue, but further research would be required and I don't particularly need to know this information at the moment. Therefore, if you wish to know, then feel free to research it and leave your findings in the comments.

Now, back to territorial waters. In some locations, territorial waters are FURTHER divided into different zones (I.E. wildlife protected zones) that regulate how ships operate while in those specific zones. One example that comes to mind is that, off the coast of California, there is a zone where ships are limited to a certain speed in certain areas due to whale migrations during a specific time of the year.

As far as International Waters go, ships can only conduct certain shipboard operations when IN International Waters, but this will be described in greater detail in future articles on how ships actually operate.

How does someone get a job on a ship in the U.S.?

The 30000-foot answer to that question is that you must jump through some hoops to get certain certifications...But we will go over this in greater detail in an article specifically dedicated to that question.