The @NavyLeagueUS expo had a small but vocal contingent of commercial maritime advocates. Supporter from the league leadership was strong. Many retired flag officers, with the benefit of hindsight, are just beginning to understand some of the challenges we face.
The active duty component of the Pentagon, however, seems to be completely out of touch with the unfolding geopolitical crises - PLURAL - at sea.
“We are not facing a Black Swan or two, a large flock of Black Swans is dive bombing the deck plates” said @mercoglianos and he’s right.
The Black Sea itself was hardly mentioned. The supply crisis was more often discussed as a digitalization problem rather than physical blockages of containers in our ports.
Terms familiar to any follower of ours - e.g. ton-miles, TEU throughput, handymax, etc - are just not in the military lexicon and I, frankly, had trouble deciphering an unending litany of acronyms.
Few truly understand the economics of shipyards, modern business theory, industrial efficiency, or the use modern financial tools. Nobody has asked industry for the lessons they learned building Shell Prelude.
Neither side has the tools necessary to tell this important story to the taxpayer and allied nations. Everyone in military uniform or government or at @DOTMARAD are reluctant to speak on the record and educate the public on these issues. This is the biggest threat I see.
I could go on but this is not an indictment, it’s a realization of how much work both sides - military and commercial - need to do to face the challenges of Russia, China, and the flock of swans that are disturbing shipping and could lead to famine or war.
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