Did you know that modern cruise ships are not built at all in the United States
Regardless if it is Royal Caribbean’s newest mega ship, a super yacht for SilverSea, or anything inbetween, no cruise line builds their ships in the United States. Why is that?
When U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) proposed legislation to permanently allow foreign flagged cruise ships to sail to Alaska without having to stop in Canada, she included a condition that would eliminate the bill once there is a U.S.-built ship that carries more than 1,000 passengers, if U.S. shipbuilders ever aspired to build cruise ships.
That little caveat in the bill by Senator Murkowski highlights the fact that modern cruise ships simply aren’t built in America.
Cruise ships are primarily built in shipyards in Europe, such as Meyer Werft in Germany or Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France. All of Royal Caribbean’s ships have been built in one shipyard or another in Europe over the years.
I asked Commander Don Goldstein, Retired United States Coast Guard, who has over 32 years of experience working with the cruise industry why ships are not built in the United States.
As you may have guessed, the primary reason why cruise ships are not built in the United States comes down to cost. In short, it costs too much to build a cruise ship in the United States for a few reasons.
Commander Goldstein pointed to three primary reasons why it’s just too expensive to build a ship domestically:
Labor costs
Just like so many other aspects of manufacturing, labor is cheaper overseas than it is in the United States. The automotive industry is a prime example of why companies choose to build their products outside of the United States.
Union labor in particular is not cheap, and labor costs on a vessel as massive as a cruise ship can add up costs quickly.
Cruise ship construction is a labor intensive industry, and when you factor in the cost of American labor and the tax structure, it becomes unreasonably expensive.
Unlike cars, cruise ships aren’t built in places like Mexico. They are built in Europe, so how are those countries that have similar standards of living to the United States able to build ships more reasonably? Essentially, they are heavily mechanized and are considered strategic assets.
Material costs
The cost of materials used in construction of the ship is going to cost more when it comes from the United States, especially U.S. built/manufactured materials.