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BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > 2003
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Water Transport Profile

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FINANCIAL

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Operating revenues ($ millions)1                        
Domestic freight, total 1,722 2,070 7,219 7,940 7,745 7,712 7,283 6,940 6,824 6,795 6,930 6,235
Coastal waterways 747 834 3,155 3,066 2,929 2,774 2,571 2,169 1,952 1,828 1,817 1,784
Inland waterways 461 621 2,395 2,956 2,868 2,964 2,861 2,899 2,904 2,811 2,960 2,894
Great Lakes 227 239 513 615 577 585 572 615 610 549 556 486
Locks, channels 287 376 1,156 1,303 1,371 1,389 1,279 1,257 1,358 1,607 1,597 1,071
International freighta 1,765 3,187 8,279 12,181 13,405 14,997 17,281 14,091 15,679 17,699 21,740 21,397
Passenger, total 281 287 310 1,391 1,564 1,716 1,843 1,974 2,029 2,088 4,663 4,187
Domestic passenger, intercity 14 12 27 100 121 129 140 141 146 152 156 144
International passengerb 267 275 283 1,291 1,443 R2,026 1,703 1,833 1,883 1,936 4,507 4,043
Revenues of U.S. commercial fishing fleet-domestic landings ($ millions)2 354 613 2,237 3,522 3,809 3,770 3,487 3,448 3,128 3,467 3,549 3,228

INVENTORY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Number of domestic inland vessel operatorsc, 3 228 380 403 565 555 557 554 U U U U U
Number of employees4                        
Ships, boat building, and repairing 141,200 171,800 220,500 187,700 158,200 159,600 158,800 158,300 166,600 167,400 167,900 161,100
Water transportationd N 212,300 211,200 176,600 172,400 174,500 174,100 178,700 181,300 185,500 193,900 192,400
Number of employeese, f, total5 49,281 35,000 19,218 12,132 11,324 10,303 9,250 8,937 8,956 9,036 U U
Passenger / combo 8,560 2,178 618 642 642 642 321 321 321 321 U U
Cargo 28,668 22,257 9,878 7,019 6,056 5,400 4,964 4,831 4,924 4,757 U U
Tankers 12,053 10,567 8,722 4,471 4,626 4,261 3,965 3,785 3,711 3,958 U U
Mileage of commercially navigable channels1 25,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000 26,000
Number of vessels6                        
Total nonself-propelled 16,777 19,377 31,662 31,017 30,723 31,360 32,811 33,011 33,509 33,387 33,152 33,042
Dry cargo barges and scows 14,025 15,890 27,426 27,091 26,723 27,342 28,743 29,006 29,526 29,383 29,107 28,888
Tankers 2,429 3,281 4,166 3,913 3,966 3,985 4,036 3,971 3,952 3,973 4,011 4,122
Railroad car floats 323 206 70 13 34 33 32 34 31 31 34 32
Total self-propelled 6,519 6,447 7,126 8,236 8,334 8,281 8,293 8,408 8,523 8,379 8,202 8,546
Dry cargo / passenger 1,796 1,761 2,036 2,678 2,785 2,804 2,782 2,905 2,938 2,910 2,780 2,697
Ferries, railroad car 31 17 67 135 175 172 173 183 213 229 292 579
Tankers 489 421 330 213 195 178 161 147 135 142 135 120
Towboats / tugs 4,203 4,248 4,693 5,210 5,179 5,127 5,177 5,173 5,237 5,098 4,995 5,150
U.S. merchant marine ships (over 1,000 gross tons)                        
Total U. S. flag7 2,926 1,579 864 636 543 509 495 477 470 463 454 443
Passenger / cargo 309 171 65 10 13 13 15 14 12 11 11 13
Freighters 2,138 1,076 471 367 308 295 292 288 289 284 286 283
Bulk carriers 57 38 20 26 22 20 15 14 15 14 15 17
Tankers 422 294 308 233 200 181 173 161 154 154 142 130
Privately owned 1,008 U 578 408 354 319 302 285 281 277 U U
Government owned 1,918 U 286 228 189 190 193 192 189 186 U U
Number of recreational boats (thousands)g,8 2,500 7,400 8,905 10,996 11,430 11,735 11,878 12,313 12,566 12,738 12,782 12,876

PERFORMANCE

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Ton-miles (thousands)h, 9                        
Domestic water freight, total N 596,195,000 921,835,800 833,543,800 814,919,200 807,727,700 764,686,500 707,409,900 672,795,300 655,861,500 645,799,300 621,686,200
Coastwise N 359,784,000 631,149,200 479,133,600 457,600,700 440,345,100 408,086,100 349,843,000 314,863,900 292,730,000 283,871,600 274,558,800
Internal N 155,816,000 227,343,000 292,393,300 297,762,400 306,329,100 296,790,600 294,023,000 294,896,400 304,724,100 302,558,400 294,860,900
Lakewise N 79,416,000 61,747,100 60,929,900 58,263,400 59,703,800 58,335,300 62,165,900 61,654,300 57,045,200 57,879,100 50,853,500
Intraport N 1,179,000 1,596,400 1,087,000 1,292,700 1,349,600 1,474,500 1,378,100 1,380,700 1,362,200 1,490,200 1,413,000
Tons of freight hauled (thousands) 9                        
Domestic, total 760,573 950,727 1,077,483 1,122,299 1,099,011 1,093,035 1,100,679 1,112,527 1,094,112 1,061,787 1,069,798 1,042,472
Coastwise 209,197 238,440 329,609 298,637 277,029 266,612 267,389 263,146 249,633 228,802 226,938 223,606
Internal 291,057 472,123 534,979 622,595 618,409 620,324 622,081 630,558 625,028 624,575 628,445 619,784
Lakewise 155,109 157,059 115,124 110,159 114,777 116,127 114,870 122,734 122,156 113,887 114,352 100,002
Intraport 104,193 81,475 94,184 86,378 82,870 83,104 89,011 89,816 90,077 88,650 94,558 93,222
Intraterritory 1,017 1,630 3,588 4,529 5,926 6,868 7,327 6,273 7,217 5,873 5,505 5,858
Exports, total 127,961 241,629 403,883 441,586 396,246 474,700 450,794 432,313 404,708 399,996 415,042 399,011
Great Lakes ports 23,150 35,932 45,077 32,898 27,108 32,968 31,855 33,209 36,876 40,233 40,131 40,519
Coastal ports 104,810 205,698 358,806 408,688 369,138 441,732 418,940 399,104 367,831 359,763 374,911 358,491
Imports, total 211,316 339,340 517,521 599,970 719,497 672,657 732,592 788,303 840,680 860,775 R939,749 945,075
Great Lakes ports 12,851 26,406 15,515 17,558 23,028 18,897 24,503 24,532 25,558 22,196 R23,917 22,021
Coastal ports 198,466 312,934 502,006 582,412 696,469 653,760 708,090 763,771 815,122 838,579 R915,832 923,054
Average haul, domestic system (miles)h, 9                        
Coastwise 1,496 1,509 1,915 1,604 1,652 1,652 1,526 1,330 1,261 1,279 1,251 1,228
Internal 282 330 405 470 482 494 477 466 472 488 481 476
Lakewise 522 506 536 553 508 514 508 507 505 501 506 509
Cargo capacity (short tons)6                        
Total nonself-propelled vessels 16,355,657 24,026,024 44,875,116 48,946,785 49,708,960 51,140,530 54,086,973 54,974,961 55,999,952 56,468,065 56,493,289 57,239,090
Dry cargo barges 12,147,006 17,695,275 34,486,851 38,189,490 38,643,518 39,971,443 42,748,644 43,710,093 44,718,691 45,049,209 44,814,696 45,281,492
Tankers 4,208,651 6,330,749 10,388,265 10,757,295 11,065,442 11,169,087 11,338,329 11,264,868 11,281,261 11,418,856 11,678,593 11,957,598
Total self-propelled vessels 15,905,881 19,284,050 23,906,346 R19,829,011 16,867,458 15,783,399 14,850,253 14,161,739 12,970,167 13,892,574 13,458,519 12,770,889
Dry cargo / passenger 12,188,956 10,815,977 8,011,587 R7,147,054 7,118,193 6,484,707 6,208,011 6,685,719 6,371,425 6,928,684 6,740,153 6,544,807
Tankers 3,716,925 8,468,073 15,894,753 R12,681,957 9,749,265 9,298,692 8,642,242 7,476,020 6,598,742 6,963,890 6,718,366 6,226,082
Fuel consumption (thousand barrels), total1 122,014 123,591 273,380 232,036 210,650 225,470 213,721 187,729 183,856 208,604 233,227 U
Diesel fuel and distillate 18,730 19,503 35,201 52,310 48,260 47,098 51,848 50,180 50,609 49,157 53,843 U
Residual fuel oil 94,084 89,850 213,131 148,764 141,544 153,125 138,214 114,044 110,480 133,301 152,616 U
Gasoline 9,200 14,238 25,048 30,962 20,846 25,247 23,659 23,505 22,767 26,146 26,768 U

SAFETY

  1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Fatalities in waterborne transport (vessel casualties only), totali,10 N 178 206 85 77 52 55 48 67 R51 45 39
Freight ship N 30 8 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 1
Tank ship N 4 4 5 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Passenger vessel N 1 5 3 4 4 8 1 3 14 0 3
Tug / towboat N 22 14 13 1 1 1 3 0 R5 0 4
Offshore supply N N N 2 1 2 2 0 6 0 2 0
Fishing vessel N 77 60 47 48 23 37 22 33 R23 28 9
Recreational vessel N N N 3 13 22 3 7 7 R5 10 12
MODU j N N N 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 1
Platform N N N 1 U U U U U R0 0 0
Freight barge N N N 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 0
Tank barge N N N 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Miscellaneous N 44 56 11 5 0 3 7 14 3 4 0
Injuries in waterborne transport, totali,10 N 105 180 175 180 152 229 119 130 R136 132 193
Freight ship N 14 8 10 6 1 7 3 3 2 4 2
Tank ship N 19 9 13 10 8 1 5 6 R5 3 3
Passenger vessel N 10 10 51 43 47 142 36 39 R71 50 109
Tug / towboat N 10 27 19 19 19 16 21 12 R13 10 18
Offshore supply N N N 9 2 10 7 3 5 1 5 13
Fishing vessel N 13 28 31 55 41 36 25 35 R19 24 15
Recreational vessel N N N 2 17 20 9 6 9 R11 26 15
MODU j N N N 13 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 3
Platform N N N 9 U U U U U R1 1 0
Freight barge N N N 3 4 0 0 5 1 R0 2 0
Tank barge N N N 3 3 5 2 0 0 R2 0 2
Miscellaneous N N 98 12 21 1 9 12 20 9 6 5
Fatalities in recreational boating (vessel casualties only), total 8 739 1,418 1,360 865 748 829 709 821 815 734 701 681
Air thrust N N N N N 4 1 6 11 2 4 2
Propeller N N N N N 475 363 436 462 421 439 326
Inboard N 119 100 50 36 N N N N 50 48 34
Outboard N 774 609 454 341 N N N N 326 328 245
Inboard / outboard N 28 47 53 49 N N N N 35 49 32
Jet N N 10 25 58 68 61 83 82 75 70 45
Sail N 44 43 20 13 4 8 15 5 7 14 19
Manual (oars, paddle) N 205 272 182 140 148 109 150 151 114 137 144
Other N 29 14 5 12 8 8 10 0 N N N
Propulsion unknown N 219 265 76 135 122 159 121 104 115 37 145

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised; U = data are not available.

a The international water freight operating revenues data was revised in Transportation in America 1998 for all years except 1994 and 1996. Therefore, the international water freight data for years 1994 and 1996 may not be comparable to other years.

b Revenues paid by American travelers to U.S. and foreign flag carriers.

c Does not include vessel operators whose primary area of operation is fishing, towing, passenger transport, ferrying, or crew boat utility service.

d Includes commercial port, marina, and other employees; excludes employees of not-for-hire private businesses.

e Estimate based on established active jobs for licensed and unlicensed personnel aboard oceangoing ships of 1,000 gross-tons and over, privately owned and operated, government-owned ships under bare boat charters, ship managers and General Agency Agreement, supplemented by Military Sealift Command employment totals for ships with Civil Service crews.

f Data is current as of January 1 of the following year with the exception of 1999 data, which is current as of Apr. 1, 1999. Due to a change in the source's periodicity, the data for 1999 is not comparable to the data from years prior to 1999.

g The U.S. Coast Guard changed its methodology for counting the number of recreational boats. Figures cited represent number of numbered boats, not estimates as previously noted for 1960 and 1970.

h Does not include intraterritorial traffic (traffic between ports in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are considered a single unit).

i 1992-2001 data come from the Marine Safety Management Information System. Data for prior years may not be directly comparable. Beginning in 2000, numbers may not add to totals because data is now recorded in a new information system known as MISLE, which does not associate every fatality and injury with a specific vessel.

j Mobile Offshore Drilling Units.

SOURCES

Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.

1 Eno Transportation Foundation Inc., Transportation in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: 2002), pp. 38, 40, 51, and 58.

2 U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Services, Fisheries of the United States (Washington, DC: Annual issues), p. 4 and similar tables in earlier editions.

3 U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, MAR-450, personal communication.

4 1960-1990: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-1994 (Washington, DC: September 1994) and 1988-1996 (Washington, DC: August 1996), SICs 373 and 44. 1994-2001: Ibid., Internet website http://www.bls.gov as of May 2003.

5 U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S. Merchant Marine Data Sheet (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

6 1960-1998: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Summary of U.S. Flag Passenger & Cargo Vessels (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues). 1999-2001: Ibid., Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues) part 1, section 1, table 1 and 2.

7 U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues) and unpublished revisions.

8 U.S. Coast Guard, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

9 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Commerce of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues), part 5, section 1, tables 2, 3, and 4.

10 1970-1990: U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, G-MAO-2, personal communication. 1994-2001: Ibid., Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communication, Feb. 13, 2002 and July 2, 2003.
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