SURFACE EFFECT SHIPS, A NEW ERA IN COMMERCIAL OCEAN TRANSPORTATION

The paper briefly reviews the economic history of the merchant marine, and discusses the effect that a declining merchant marine may have on the nation in general. The text discusses six requirements that a ship concept should have in order to meet the requirements for successful operation under American flag operations and compares our presently subsidized ship operation with that of our unsubsidized foreign aircraft operations. Five of the most promising surface effect ship concepts are discussed and a comparative analysis is made of the five machines in operation. Finally, the surface effect ships are compared against the six criteria originally laid down as requirements for successful economic merchant marine ship operation. The paper concludes that surface effect ships are economically and theoretically sound, technically feasible, and that such ships would be insensitive to the labor rate differential between American labor and our foreign competition. Further, the SES has vehicle characteristics capable of restoring the American merchant marine to its original vigorous state as a world leader in marine transportation, without requiring Government subsidy to survive.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Prepared for presentation at the National Meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Washington, D.C., 14 April 1965.
• Corporate Authors:

  Maritime Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Higgins, J A
• Publication Date: 1965

Media Info

• Pagination: 34 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economics; Shipping; Surface effect ships
• Old TRIS Terms: Economic analysis (Ses); Shipping economics
• Subject Areas: Economics; Marine Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00026890
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 14 1974 12:00AM