Page 20: of Marine News Magazine (June 2024)

19 21

Column

Shipyard Politics

Government Shipbuilding Could Soon Enter

American Living Rooms

By Craig Hooper, CEO, Themistocles Advisory Group

With the U.S. Navy ber the Maine” moment. Back in 1898, after the USS and U.S. Coast Guard FY 2025 budget requests offering Maine (ACR-1) blew up in Havana harbor, the sudden uninspiring news for traditional shipbuilders, industry ob- loss of the battleship and some 268 sailors pushed the servers might be forgiven for checking out and dismissing American public into a warlike mood, setting the stage for 2024 as just another dull year in the frustrating business of the Spanish American War, and sparking far more public government shipbuilding. interest in building naval combatants.

But with an election underway and an increasingly dis- The recipe for an otherwise unexpected surge of pub- orderly sea, the year may end up being far more exciting lic interest in government shipbuilding is in place. The for industry than most U.S. shipbuilders expect. 2024 Presidential Election is still taking shape, and, while

In fact, it might even be time to prepare for a “Remem- government shipbuilding hasn’t been directly addressed

Daniel Perez / U.S. Navy 20 | MN June 2024