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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Water Transport Profile

Embedded Dataset Excel:

Dataset Excel:

table_water_transport_profile_072522.xlsx (44.67 KB)

Description:

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

a The international water freight operating revenues data was revised in Transportation in America 1998 for all years except 1994 and 1996. Therefore, the international water freight data for years 1994 and 1996 may not be comparable to other years.

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

c Data is based on NAICS classifications. 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 Freighters include Containerships, General Cargo vessels and Roll On-Roll Off vessels. Freighters data include bulk carriers prior to calendar year 1983.

e 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.

f Does not include intra-territorial traffic (traffic between ports in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are considered a single unit).

g Beginning in 1996, fish are excluded from Internal and Intraport Tons of freight hauled.

h 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.  

i Vessel-related casualties include those involving damage to vessels such as collisions or groundings. Fatalities not related to vessel casualties include deaths from falling overboard or from accidents involving onboard equipment. 

Source:

Finacial

Operating revenues:

1960-96: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio River Division, Huntington District, Ohio River Navigation System Report, 1996, Commerce on the Ohio River and its Tributaries (Fort Belvoir, VA: 1996), page 2.

1997-2001: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center Databases, personal communication, Aug. 3, 2001 and Apr. 21, 2006.

 2009-20: U.S. Census Bureau, Service Annual Survey (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 2 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sas.html as of May 25, 2022.

Revenues of U.S. commercial fishing fleet-domestic landings:

U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Services,  Fisheries of the United States (Silver Spring, MD: Annual Issues), p. 11 and similar pages in earlier editions, available at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ as of May 25, 2022.

Inventory

Number of employees, Ship and boat building and Water transportation:

1960-90: 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.

1994-2021: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey, available at http://www.bls.gov as of  Jun. 22, 2022. 

Number of vessels and Cargo capacity: 

1960-98: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Summary of U.S. Flag Passenger & Cargo Vessels (New Orleans, LA:  Annual issues).

1980-2020: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues) vol. 1, section 1, table 13 as of May 25, 2022.

Total U. S. flag: 

1960-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues), and unpublished revisions.

2000-20: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S.-Flag Privately-Owned Merchant Fleet (Washington, DC: Annual issues) available at https://www.marad.dot.gov/resources/data-statistics/ as of May 25, 2022.

Recreational boats:

U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 36 and similar in earlier editions, available at http://uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_statistics.php as of Jun. 22, 2022. 

Performance

Ton-miles, Tons of freight hauled and Average haul:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United States (New Orleans, LA:  Annual issues), part 5, section 1, tables 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 available at http://www.navigationdatacenter.us/wcsc/wcsc.htm as of Jun. 22, 2022. 

Residual and distillate/diesel fuel oil:

1960-80: American Petroleum Institute, Basic Petroleum Data Book (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), tables 10, 10a, 12, and 12a.

1985-2019: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), available at https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/fueloilkerosene/ as of May 25, 2022.

Gasoline:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table MF-24 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics.cfm as of May 25, 2022.

Safety

Fatalities:

1970-1990: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, G-MAO-2, personal communication.

1994-2001: U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communication, Feb. 13, 2002, July 2, 2003 and August 29, 2007.

2002-20: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Compliance Analysis Division, personal communication, Nov. 20, 2012 and Nov. 12, 2013, Aug. 31, 2015, May 2016, July 2017, Aug. 16, 2018, Aug. 28, 2019, Sep. 9, 2020, and Aug. 6, 2021.

Injuries:

1970-1990: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, G-MAO-2, personal communication.

1994-2001: U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communication, Feb. 13, 2002, July 2, 2003 and August 29, 2007. 

2002-15: U.S. Coast Guard, Marine Casualty and Pollution Data for Researchers (April 6, 2015), available at https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Prevention-Policy-CG-5P/Inspections-Compliance-CG-5PC-/Office-of-Investigations-Casualty-Analysis/Marine-Casualty-and-Pollution-Data-for-Researchers-/ as of Jul. 11, 2017.

2016-20: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Compliance Analysis Division, personal communication, May 24, 2019, Sep. 9, 2020, and Aug. 6, 2021.

Fatalities in recreational boats:

U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 20 and similar in earlier editions, available at http://uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_statistics.php as of Jun. 22, 2022. 

Publications:
National Transportation Statistics Table Water Transport Profile