Union and industry urge recruitment, training investments to reverse mariner shortage

Labor leaders, port officials and shipyard representatives told the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee that the United States needs sustained recruitment and training investments to rebuild a shrinking mariner workforce.

Brian Schoeneman, political and legislative director for the Seafarers International Union, and other witnesses said the U.S. merchant fleet carries a small fraction of the nation's foreign commerce and that mariner shortages predated the COVID‑19 pandemic but were exacerbated by it. Schoeneman said the fleet carries "less than 2% of our foreign commerce and represents less than 0.4% of the world's shipping fleet," and argued that programs such as Food for Peace and Food for Progress provide commercially meaningful cargo to support U.S.‑flag operators.

Witnesses cited concrete steps to expand the workforce: fully funding training centers and maritime academies, making pandemic‑era pilot programs to shorten competency timelines permanent, supporting the small shipyard grant program to expand shore‑side employment, and launching national recruitment campaigns. Representative Pupis and others welcomed language in last year's National Defense Authorization Act directing the Navy to assist with a major recruitment campaign for the Merchant Marine.

Panelists emphasized quality‑of‑life improvements and modernized training as recruitment tools, including better onboard connectivity and shorter sea tours, and recommended greater outreach to high schools and community colleges. No formal votes or policy changes were enacted during the hearing, but members and witnesses agreed on follow‑up oversight and working with the Navy and maritime academies to increase enrollment and training capacity.