Water Transport Profile

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FINANCIAL

	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Operating revenues ($ millions)1
Domestic freight, total	U	U	U	(R) 23,674	U	(R) 25,162	(R) 23,980	(R) 23,761	(R) 24,766	(R) 26,667	(R) 30,925	(R) 29,575	(R) 28,643	(R) 34,191	(R) 40,612	U	U
Coastal/Great lakes	U	U	U	(R) 7,383	U	(R) 6,781	(R) 6,313	(R) 5,531	(R) 5,033	(R) 4,677	(R) 4,560	(R) 4,361	(R) 4,235	(R) 4,390	(R) 4,483	U	U
Inland waterways	U	U	U	(R) 4,149	U	(R) 4,312	(R) 4,178	(R) 4,139	(R) 4,151	(R) 4,289	(R) 4,259	(R) 4,151	(R) 4,130	(R) 3,918	(R) 3,999	U	U
International freighta	U	U	U	(R) 12,142	U	(R) 14,069	(R) 13,489	(R) 14,091	(R) 15,582	(R) 17,701	(R) 22,106	(R) 21,063	(R) 20,278	(R) 25,883	(R) 32,130	U	U
Passenger, total	U	U	U	(R) 3,702	U	(R) 3,988	(R) 4,231	(R) 4,440	(R) 5,237	(R) 6,230	(R) 7,697	(R) 8,270	(R) 8,652	(R) 9,055	(R) 9,438	U	U
Domestic passenger, intercity	U	U	U	(R) 434	U	(R) 437	(R) 440	(R) 442	(R) 448	(R) 479	(R) 520	(R) 551	(R) 571	(R) 624	(R) 632	U	U
International passengera	U	U	U	(R) 3,268	U	(R) 3,551	(R) 3,791	(R) 3,998	(R) 4,789	(R) 5,751	(R) 7,177	(R) 7,719	(R) 8,081	(R) 8,431	(R) 8,806	U	U
Revenues of U.S. commercial fishing fleet-domestic landings ($ millions)2	354	613	2,237	3,522	3,809	3,770	3,487	3,448	3,128	3,467	3,549	3,228	3,092	(R) 3,348	3,756	3,942	3,993

INVENTORY

	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Number of domestic inland vessel operatorsb, 3	228	380	403	565	555	557	554	U	U	U	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Number of employees4
Ships, boat building, and repairingc	141,200	171,800	220,500	187,700	158,200	159,600	158,800	158,300	166,600	167,400	167,900	161,100	146,810	145,350	149,160	153,170	152,650
Water transportationd	N	212,300	211,200	176,600	172,400	174,500	174,100	178,700	181,300	185,500	193,900	192,400	145,370	145,400	145,340	154,980	160,160
Number of employeesd,e, total5	49,281	35,000	19,218	12,132	11,324	10,303	9,250	8,937	8,956	9,036	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Passenger / combo	8,560	2,178	618	642	642	642	321	321	321	321	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Cargo	28,668	22,257	9,878	7,019	6,056	5,400	4,964	4,831	4,924	4,757	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Tankers	12,053	10,567	8,722	4,471	4,626	4,261	3,965	3,785	3,711	3,958	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Mileage of commercially navigable channels1	25,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	U	U	U	U	U
Number of vessels6
Total nonself-propelled	16,777	19,377	31,662	31,017	30,723	31,360	32,811	33,011	33,509	33,387	33,152	33,042	32,381	31,335	31,296	32,052	U
Dry cargo barges and scows	14,025	15,890	27,426	27,091	26,723	27,342	28,743	29,006	29,526	29,383	29,107	28,888	28,281	27,272	27,197	27,876	U
Tankers	2,429	3,281	4,166	3,913	3,966	3,985	4,036	3,971	3,952	3,973	4,011	4,122	4,068	4,031	4,069	4,151	U
Railroad car floats	323	206	70	13	34	33	32	34	31	31	34	32	32	32	30	25	U
Total self-propelled	6,519	6,447	7,126	8,236	8,334	8,281	8,293	8,408	8,523	8,379	8,202	8,546	8,621	8,648	8,994	8,976	U
Dry cargo / passenger	1,796	1,761	2,036	2,678	2,785	2,804	2,782	2,905	2,938	2,910	2,780	2,697	2,738	2,765	2,948	2,967	U
Ferries, railroad car	31	17	67	135	175	172	173	183	213	229	292	579	595	607	629	619	U
Tankers	489	421	330	213	195	178	161	147	135	142	135	120	108	104	103	100	U
Towboats / tugs	4,203	4,248	4,693	5,210	5,179	5,127	5,177	5,173	5,237	5,098	4,995	5,150	5,180	5,172	5,314	5,290	U
U.S. merchant marine ships (over 1,000 gross tons)
Total U. S. flag7	2,926	1,579	864	636	543	509	495	477	470	463	454	443	426	(R) 418	412	U	U
Passenger / cargo	309	171	65	10	13	13	15	14	12	11	11	13	12	(R) 15	18	U	U
Freightersf	2,138	1,076	471	367	308	295	292	288	289	284	286	283	276	(R) 209	205	U	U
Bulk carriers	57	38	20	26	22	20	15	14	15	14	15	17	18	(R) 20	20	U	U
Tankers	422	294	308	233	200	181	173	161	154	154	142	130	120	(R) 109	104	U	U
Privately owned	1,008	U	578	408	354	319	302	285	281	277	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Government owned	1,918	U	286	228	189	190	193	192	189	186	U	U	U	U	U	U	U
Number of recreational boats (thousands)h,8	2,500	7,400	8,578	10,996	11,430	11,735	11,878	12,313	12,566	12,738	12,782	12,876	12,854	12,795	12,781	12,942	12,746

PERFORMANCE

	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Ton-miles (thousands)g, 9
Domestic water freight, total	N	596,195,000	921,835,800	833,543,800	814,919,200	807,727,700	764,686,500	707,409,900	672,795,300	655,861,500	645,799,300	621,686,200	612,080,500	606,146,300	621,170	591,277	U
Coastwise	N	359,784,000	631,149,200	479,133,600	457,600,700	440,345,100	408,086,100	349,843,000	314,863,900	292,730,000	283,871,600	274,558,800	263,688,200	278,918,700	279,857	263,464	U
Internal	N	155,816,000	227,343,000	292,393,300	297,762,400	306,329,100	296,790,600	294,023,000	294,896,400	304,724,100	302,558,400	294,860,900	293,410,300	278,352,300	284,096	274,367	U
Lakewise	N	79,416,000	61,747,100	60,929,900	58,263,400	59,703,800	58,335,300	62,165,900	61,654,300	57,045,200	57,879,100	50,853,500	53,652,900	47,539,400	55,733	51,924	U
Intraport	N	1,179,000	1,596,400	1,087,000	1,292,700	1,349,600	1,474,500	1,378,100	1,380,700	1,362,200	1,490,200	1,413,000	1,329,000	1,335,900	1,484	1,521	U
Tons of freight hauled (thousands) 9
Domestic, total	760,573	950,727	1,077,483	1,122,299	1,099,011	1,093,035	1,100,679	1,112,527	1,094,112	1,061,787	1,069,798	1,042,472	1,021,001	1,016,136	1,047,088	1,028,910	U
Coastwise	209,197	238,440	329,609	298,637	277,029	266,612	267,389	263,146	249,633	228,802	226,938	223,606	216,396	223,458	220,557	213,668	U
Internal	291,057	472,123	534,979	622,595	618,409	620,324	622,081	630,558	625,028	624,575	628,445	619,784	608,038	609,598	626,598	623,980	U
Lakewise	155,109	157,059	115,124	110,159	114,777	116,127	114,870	122,734	122,156	113,887	114,352	100,002	101,466	89,776	103,533	96,226	U
Intraport	104,193	81,475	94,184	86,378	82,870	83,104	89,011	89,816	90,077	88,650	94,558	93,222	90,004	86,909	91,267	90,166	U
Intraterritory	1,017	1,630	3,588	4,529	5,926	6,868	7,327	6,273	7,217	5,873	5,505	5,858	5,097	6,395	5,484	4,871	U
Exports, total	127,961	241,629	403,883	441,586	396,246	474,700	450,794	432,313	404,708	399,996	415,042	399,011	384,350	373,324	415,786	401,827	U
Great Lakes ports	23,150	35,932	45,077	32,898	27,108	32,968	31,855	33,209	36,876	40,233	40,131	40,519	38,066	32,943	36,090	37,291	U
Coastal ports	104,810	205,698	358,806	408,688	369,138	441,732	418,940	399,104	367,831	359,763	374,911	358,491	346,284	340,381	379,697	364,536	U
Imports, total	211,316	339,340	517,521	599,970	719,497	672,657	732,592	788,303	840,680	860,775	939,749	951,815	934,941	1,004,791	1,089,065	1,096,885	U
Great Lakes ports	12,851	26,406	15,515	17,558	23,028	18,897	24,503	24,532	25,558	22,196	23,917	21,391	21,548	23,336	26,086	24,114	U
Coastal ports	198,466	312,934	502,006	582,412	696,469	653,760	708,090	763,771	815,122	838,579	915,832	929,794	929,794	981,455	1,062,979	1,072,771	U
Average haul, domestic system (miles)h, 9
Coastwise	1,496	1,509	1,915	1,604	1,652	1,652	1,526	1,330	1,261	1,279	1,251	1,228	1,219	1,248	1,269	1,233	U
Internal	282	330	405	470	482	494	477	466	472	488	481	476	483	457	454	440	U
Lakewise	522	506	536	553	508	514	508	507	505	501	506	509	529	530	538	540	U
Cargo capacity (short tons)6
Total nonself-propelled vessels	16,355,657	24,026,024	44,875,116	(R) 49,066,020	49,708,960	###########	54,086,973	54,974,961	55,999,952	56,468,065	56,581,364	57,341,226	56,721,816	55,053,776	55,527,696	57,035,748	U
Dry cargo barges	12,147,006	17,695,275	34,486,851	38,189,490	38,643,518	39,971,443	42,748,644	43,710,093	44,718,691	45,049,209	44,814,696	45,281,492	44,688,157	43,094,911	43,282,387	44,777,151	U
Tankers	4,208,651	6,330,749	10,388,265	10,757,295	11,065,442	11,169,087	11,338,329	11,264,868	11,281,261	11,418,856	11,678,593	11,957,598	11,925,863	11,860,144	12,158,254	12,172,542	U
Total self-propelled vessels	15,905,881	19,284,050	23,906,346	19,829,011	16,867,458	15,783,399	14,850,253	14,161,739	12,970,167	13,892,574	13,458,519	12,770,889	12,093,812	11,804,878	12,546,796	12,342,584	U
Dry cargo / passenger	12,188,956	10,815,977	8,011,587	7,147,054	7,118,193	6,484,707	6,208,011	6,685,719	6,371,425	6,928,684	6,740,153	6,544,807	6,452,715	6,570,281	7,293,500	6,614,973	U
Tankers	3,716,925	8,468,073	15,894,753	12,681,957	9,749,265	9,298,692	8,642,242	7,476,020	6,598,742	6,963,890	6,718,366	6,226,082	5,641,097	5,234,597	5,253,396	5,727,512	U
Fuel consumption (thousand barrels), total1	122,014	123,591	273,380	232,036	210,650	225,470	213,721	187,729	183,856	208,604	233,227	U	U	U	U	U	U
Diesel fuel and distillate	18,730	19,503	35,201	52,310	48,260	47,098	51,848	50,180	50,609	49,157	53,843	U	U	U	U	U	U
Residual fuel oil	94,084	89,850	213,131	148,764	141,544	153,125	138,214	114,044	110,480	133,301	152,616	U	U	U	U	U	U
Gasoline	9,200	14,238	25,048	30,962	20,846	25,247	23,659	23,505	22,767	26,146	26,768	U	U	U	U	U	U

SAFETY

	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Fatalities in waterborne transport (vessel casualties only), totali,10	N	178	206	85	77	52	55	48	67	51	45	31	61	54	48	45	48
Freight ship	N	30	8	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	1	3	3	8	2	1
Tank ship	N	4	4	5	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Passenger vessel	N	1	5	3	4	4	8	1	3	14	0	3	6	29	9	6	3
Tug / towboat	N	22	14	13	1	1	1	3	0	5	0	4	8	0	1	10	6
Offshore supply	N	N	N	2	1	2	2	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fishing vessel	N	77	60	47	48	23	37	22	33	23	28	9	15	14	16	16	19
Recreational vessel	N	N	N	3	13	22	3	7	7	5	10	12	14	1	7	9	12
MODU j	N	N	N	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	1
Platform	N	N	N	1	U	U	U	U	U	0	0	0	0	U	U	U	U
Freight barge	N	N	N	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	2
Tank barge	N	N	N	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
Miscellaneous	N	44	56	11	5	0	3	7	14	3	4	0	2	0	0	1	2
Injuries in waterborne transport, totali,10	N	105	180	175	180	152	229	119	130	136	131	185	187	255	228	140	177
Freight ship	N	14	8	10	6	1	7	3	3	2	4	2	7	12	7	12	19
Tank ship	N	19	9	13	10	8	1	5	6	5	3	3	0	3	7	3	2
Passenger vessel	N	10	10	51	43	47	142	36	39	71	50	109	57	140	81	58	63
Tug / towboat	N	10	27	19	19	19	16	21	12	13	10	18	17	12	27	20	22
Offshore supply	N	N	N	9	2	10	7	3	5	1	5	13	0	5	5	1	6
Fishing vessel	N	13	28	31	55	41	36	25	35	19	24	15	41	29	37	29	33
Recreational vessel	N	N	N	2	17	20	9	6	9	11	26	15	14	11	37	8	13
MODUj	N	N	N	13	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	3	0	19	3	2	2
Platform	N	N	N	9	U	U	U	U	U	1	1	0	0	U	U	U	U
Freight barge	N	N	N	3	4	0	0	5	1	0	2	0	0	0	4	0	0
Tank barge	N	N	N	3	3	5	2	0	0	2	0	2	0	2	3	1	0
Miscellaneous	N	N	98	12	21	1	9	12	20	9	6	5	9	14	7	3	6
Fatalities in recreational boating (vessel casualties only), total 8	739	1,418	1,360	865	748	829	709	821	815	734	701	681	750	703	676	697	710
Air thrust	N	N	N	N	N	4	1	6	11	2	4	2	1	6	4	3	3
Propeller	N	N	N	N	N	475	363	436	462	421	439	326	506	421	433	355	438
Inboard	N	119	100	50	36	N	N	N	N	50	48	34	60	40	39	24	39
Outboard	N	774	609	454	341	N	N	N	N	326	328	245	372	320	322	259	301
Inboard / outboard	N	28	47	53	49	N	N	N	N	35	49	32	47	47	43	61	69
Jet	N	N	10	25	58	68	61	83	82	75	70	45	75	66	65	72	74
Sail	N	44	43	20	13	4	8	15	5	7	14	19	3	7	11	21	11
Manual (oars, paddle)	N	205	272	182	140	148	109	150	151	114	137	144	107	113	130	134	135
Other	N	29	14	5	12	8	8	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Propulsion unknown	N	219	265	76	135	122	159	121	104	115	37	145	58	90	33	111	48

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

^a Revenues paid by American travelers to U.S. and foreign flag carriers.

^b Does not include vessel operators whose primary area of operation is fishing, towing, passenger transport, ferrying, or crew boat utility service.

^c Data for 2002 is based on new NAICS classifications and therefore comparisons between 2002 data and data for prior years may be misleading. Prior to 2002 water transportation was calculated based on SIC classifications and included commercial port, marina, and other employees; excluding employees of not-for-hire private businesses. Data for water transportation in 2002 includes NAICS categories 483100, 483200, 488300. Data for ships, boat building, and repairing is based on the NAICS category 336600.

^d Estimate based on established active jobs for licensed and unlicensed personnel aboard oceangoing ships of 1,000 gross-tons and over, privately owned and operated, government-owned ships under bare boat charters, ship managers and General Agency Agreement, supplemented by Military Sealift Command employment totals for ships with Civil Service crews.

^e Data is current as of January 1 of the following year with the exception of 1999 data, which is current as of Apr. 1, 1999. Due to a change in the source's periodicity, the data for 1999 is not comparable to the data from years prior to 1999.

^f Freighters data include bulk carriers prior to calendar year 1983.

^g The U.S. Coast Guard changed its methodology for counting the number of recreational boats. Figures cited represent number of numbered boats, not estimates as previously noted for 1960 and 1970.

^h Does not include intraterritorial traffic (traffic between ports in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are considered a single unit).

ⁱ 1992-2002 data come from the Marine Safety Management Information System. Data for prior years may not be directly comparable. Beginning in 2000, numbers may not add to totals because data is now recorded in a new information system known as MISLE, which does not associate every fatality and injury with a specific vessel.

^j Mobile Offshore Drilling Units.

SOURCES

Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.

¹ Eno Transportation Foundation Inc., Transportation in America, 2007 (Washington, DC: 2007), pp. 32, 33, and 34.

² U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Services, Fisheries of the United States (Silver Spring, MD: Annual issues), p. 4 and similar pages in earlier editions.

³ U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, MAR-450, personal communication.

⁴ 1960-1990: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-1994 (Washington, DC: September 1994) and 1988-1996 (Washington, DC: August 1996), SICs 373 and 44. 1994-2006: Ibid., available at http://www.bls.gov as of November 2007.

⁵ U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S. Merchant Marine Data Sheet (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

⁶ 1960-1998: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Summary of U.S. Flag Passenger & Cargo Vessels (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues). 1999-2005: Ibid., Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues) part 1, section 1, table 1 and 2.

⁷ U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues), and unpublished revisions.

⁸ U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

⁹ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues), part 5, section 1, tables 2, 3, and 4.

¹⁰ 1970-A321990: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, G-MAO-2, personal communication. 1994-2006: Ibid., Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communication, Feb. 13, 2002, July 2, 2003 and August 29, 2007.