Fear that China rules the waves jolts US to pursue maritime revival
Live MintRising tensions with China are prompting Washington to revisit America’s roots as a trading nation of the seas. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has advocated a focus on “maritime statecraft," stressing commercial shipping’s importance to the Navy in tasks including refueling ships and carrying vital military supplies. “I’m not foolish enough to think it’s going to be easy," said Del Toro in an interview aboard a Navy cargo ship. Mahan “argued that naval power begets maritime commercial power, and control of maritime commerce begets greater naval power," Del Toro said. Today the U.S. is the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas, but doesn’t have a single LNG ship in its fleet, notes Carleen Lyden Walker, who leads a maritime trade group and this year helped draft a plan to support the sector, titled Zero Point Four, referring to the percentage of the world fleet of oceangoing cargo ships in U.S. hands.
Discover Related
)
)
)