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BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > 2001

Water Transport Profile

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Financial	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Operating revenues ($ millions)
Domestic freight^k	1,722	2,070	7,219	7,940	7,745	7,712	^R7,283	^R6,940	^R6,824	6,795
Coastal waterways	747	834	3,155	3,066	2,929	2,774	^R2,571	2,169	^R1,952	1,828
Inland waterways	461	621	2,395	2,956	2,868	2,964	^R2,861	^R2,899	^R2,904	2,811
Great Lakes	227	239	513	615	577	585	^R572	615	^R610	549
Locks, channels	287	376	1,156	1,303	1,371	1,389	1,279	1,257	1,358	1,607
International freight^h	1,765	3,187	8,279	12,181	13,405	^R14,997	17,281	14,091	15,679	17,699
Passenger, total	281	287	^R310	^R1,391	^R1,564	^R1,716	^R1,843	^R1,974	^R2,029	2,088
Domestic passenger, intercity	14	12	^R27	^R100	^R121	129	^R140	141	^R146	152
International passenger^a	267	275	283	^R1,291	^R1,443	^R1,587	^R1,703	^R1,833	^R1,883	1,936
Revenues of U.S. commercial fishing fleet (domestic landings) ($ millions)^l	354	613	2,237	3,522	3,809	3,770	3,487	3,448	3,128	3,467

Inventory	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Number of domestic inland vessel operators^b,m	228	380	403	565	555	557	554	U	U	U
Number of employees
Ships, boat building, and repairing	ⁿ141,200	ⁿ171,800	ⁿ220,500	^o187,700	^p158,200	^p159,600	^p158,800	^p158,300	^R,p166,600	^p167,400
Water transportation^c	N	212,300	211,200	176,600	172,400	174,500	174,100	178,700	^R181,300	185,500
Number of employees^d,i
Passenger/combo^q	8,560	2,178	618	642	642	642	321	321	321	321
Cargo	28,668	22,257	9,878	7,019	6,056	5,400	4,964	4,831	4,924	4,757
Tankers	12,053	10,567	8,722	4,471	4,626	4,261	3,965	3,785	3,711	3,958
Total	49,281	35,000	19,218	12,132	11,324	10,303	9,250	8,937	8,956	9,036
Mileage of commercially navigable channels^k	25,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000	26,000
Number of vessels
Total nonself-propelled	^r16,777	^r19,377	^r31,662	^r31,209	^r30,730	^r31,360	^r32,811	^r33,011	^r33,509	^w33,387
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
Tankers	2,429	3,281	4,166	3,913	3,966	3,985	4,036	3,971	3,952	3,973
Railroad car floats	323	206	70	13	34	33	32	34	31	31
Total self-propelled	6,543	6,455	7,126	8,236	8,334	8,281	8,293	8,408	8,523	8,379
Dry cargo/passenger	1,796	1,761	2,036	2,678	2,785	2,804	2,782	2,905	2,938	2,910
Ferries, railroad car	31	17	67	135	175	172	173	183	213	229
Tankers	489	421	330	213	195	178	161	147	135	142
Towboats/tugs	4,203	4,248	4,693	5,210	5,179	5,127	5,177	5,173	5,237	5,098
U.S. merchant marine ships (over 1,000 gross tons)
Total U. S. flag^s	2,926	1,579	864	636	543	509	495	477	470	463
Passenger/cargo	309	171	65	10	13	13	15	14	12	11
Freighters	2,138	1,076	471	367	308	295	292	288	289	284
Bulk carriers	57	38	20	26	22	20	15	14	15	14
Tankers	422	294	308	233	200	181	173	161	154	154
Privately owned	1,008	U	578	408	354	319	302	285	281	277
Government owned	1,918	U	286	228	189	190	193	192	189	186
Number of recreational boats (thousands)^e,t	2,500	7,400	8,905	10,996	11,430	11,735	11,878	12,313	^R12,566	12,738

Performance	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Ton-miles (thousands)^f
Domestic water freight
Coastwise^u	N	359,784,000	^R631,149,200	479,133,600	^R457,600,700	440,345,100	408,086,100	349,843,000	314,863,900	292,730,000
Internal	N	155,816,000	^R227,343,000	292,393,300	^R297,762,400	306,329,100	296,790,600	294,023,000	294,896,400	304,724,100
Lakewise	N	79,416,000	^R61,747,100	60,929,900	^R58,263,400	59,703,800	58,335,300	62,165,900	61,654,300	57,045,200
Intraport	N	1,179,000	^R1,596,400	1,087,000	^R1,292,700	1,349,600	1,474,500	1,378,100	1,380,700	1,362,200
Total	N	596,195,000	^R921,835,800	853,543,800	^R814,919,200	^R807,727,700	^R764,686,500	707,409,900	^R672,795,300	655,861,500
Tons of freight hauled (thousands)
Domestic
Coastwise	209,197	238,440	329,609	298,637	277,029	266,612	267,389	263,146	249,633	228,802
Internal	291,057	472,123	534,979	622,595	618,409	620,324	622,081	630,558	625,028	624,575
Lakewise	155,109	157,059	115,124	110,159	114,777	116,127	114,870	122,734	122,156	113,887
Intraport	104,193	81,475	94,184	86,378	82,870	83,104	89,011	89,816	90,077	88,650
Intraterritory	1,017	1,630	3,588	4,529	5,926	6,868	7,327	6,273	7,217	5,873
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
Exports
Great Lakes ports	23,150	35,932	45,077	32,898	27,108	32,968	31,855	33,209	36,876	40,233
Coastal ports	104,810	205,698	358,806	408,688	369,138	441,732	418,940	399,104	367,831	359,763
Total	127,961	241,629	403,883	441,586	369,246	474,700	450,794	432,313	404,708	399,996
Imports
Great Lakes ports	12,851	26,406	15,515	^R17,558	23,028	18,897	24,503	24,532	25,558	22,196
Coastal ports	198,466	312,934	502,006	582,412	696,469	653,760	708,090	763,771	815,122	838,579
Total	211,316	339,340	517,521	599,970	719,497	672,657	732,593	788,303	840,680	860,775
Average haul, domestic system (miles)^f
Coastwise	1,496	1,509	1,915	1,604	1,652	1,652	1,526	1,330	1,261	1,279
Internal	282	330	405	470	482	494	477	466	472	488
Lakewise	522	506	536	553	508	514	508	507	505	501
Cargo capacity (short tons)
Total nonself-propelled vessels	^r16,355,657	^r24,026,024	^r44,875,116	^r48,946,785	^r49,708,960	^r51,140,530	^r54,086,973	^r54,974,961	^r55,999,952	^w56,566,140
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
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
Total self-propelled vessels	15,905,881	19,284,050	23,906,346	19,723,788	16,867,458	15,783,399	14,850,253	14,161,739	12,970,167	13,892,574
Dry cargo/passenger	12,188,956	10,815,977	8,011,587	7,042,263	7,118,193	6,484,707	6,208,011	6,685,719	6,371,425	6,928,684
Tankers	3,716,925	8,468,073	15,894,753	12,681,525	9,749,265	9,298,692	8,642,242	7,476,020	6,598,742	6,963,890
Fuel consumption (thousand barrels)
Diesel fuel and distillate^k	18,730	19,503	35,201	52,310	48,260	47,098	51,848	50,180	50,609	49,157
Residual fuel oil	94,084	89,850	213,131	148,764	141,544	153,125	^R138,214	114,044	110,480	133,301
Gasoline	9,200	14,238	25,048	30,962	^R20,846	^R25,247	23,659	^R23,505	22,767	26,146
Total	122,014	123,591	273,380	232,036	^R210,650	^R225,470	^R213,721	^R187,729	183,856	208,604

Safety	1960	1970	1980	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Fatalities in waterborne transport (vessel casualties only)^j
Freight ship	N	^v30	^v8	^v0	^R,x0	^R,x0	^R,x1	^R,x2	^R,x2	^x0
Tank ship	N	4	4	5	^R3	^R0	^R0	^R0	^R1	0
Passenger vessel	N	1	5	3	^R4	^R4	^R8	^R1	^R3	14
Tug/towboat	N	22	14	13	^R1	^R1	^R1	^R3	^R0	6
Offshore supply	N	N	N	2	^R1	^R2	^R2	^R0	^R6	0
Fishing vessel	N	77	60	47	^R48	^R23	^R37	^R22	^R33	25
Recreational vessel	N	N	N	3	^R13	^R22	^R3	^R7	^R7	9
MODU^g	N	N	N	0	^R0	^R0	^R0	^R4	^R0	0
Platform	N	N	N	1	U	U	U	U	U	U
Freight barge	N	N	N	0	^R2	^R0	^R0	^R2	^R1	0
Tank barge	N	H	N	0	^R0	^R0	^R0	^R0	^R0	1
Miscellaneous	N	44	56	11	^R5	^R0	^R3	^R7	^R14	3
Total^j	N	178	206	85	^R77	^R52	^R55	^R48	^R67	58
Injuries in waterborne transport
Freight ship	N	14	8	10	^R6	^R1	^R7	^R3	^R3	2
Tank ship	N	19	9	13	^R10	^R8	^R1	^R5	^R6	1
Passenger vessel	N	10	10	51	^R43	^R47	^R142	^R36	^R39	76
Tug/towboat	N	10	27	19	^R19	^R19	^R16	^R21	^R12	15
Offshore supply	N	N	N	9	^R2	^R10	^R7	^R3	^R5	1
Fishing vessel	N	13	28	31	^R55	^R41	^R36	^R25	^R35	25
Recreational vessel	N	N	N	2	^R17	^R20	^R9	^R6	^R9	12
MODU^g	N	N	N	13	^R0	^R0	^R0	^R3	^R0	2
Platform	N	N	N	9	U	U	U	U	U	U
Freight barge	N	N	N	3	^R4	^R0	^R0	^R5	^R1	1
Tank barge	N	N	N	3	^R3	^R5	^R2	^R0	^R0	1
Miscellaneous	N	N	98	12	^R21	^R1	^R9	^R12	^R20	9
Total^j	N	105	180	175	^R180	^R152	^R229	^R119	^R130	145
Fatalities in recreational boating (vessel casualties only)
Air thrust^t	N	N	N	N	N	4	1	6	11	2
Propeller	N	N	N	N	N	475	363	436	462	421
Inboard	N	^t119	^t100	^t50	^t36	N	N	N	N	50
Outboard	N	774	609	454	341	N	N	N	N	326
Inboard/outboard	N	28	47	53	49	N	N	N	N	35
Jet	N	N	10	25	58	68	61	83	82	75
Sail	N	44	43	20	13	4	8	15	5	7
Manual (oars, paddle)	N	205	272	182	140	148	109	150	151	114
Other	N	29	14	5	12	8	8	10	0	N
Propulsion unknown	N	219	265	76	135	122	159	121	104	115
Total	^t739	1,418	1,360	865	748	829	709	821	815	734

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

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

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

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

^d 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.

^e 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.

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

^g Mobile Offshore Drilling Units.

^h 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.

ⁱ 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.

^j 1992-2000 data come from the Marine Safety Management Information System. Data for prior years may not be directly comparable.

SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.

^k Eno Transportation Foundation Inc., Transportation in America, 2000 (Washington, DC: 2001), pp. 7, 10-11, 27, 44.

^l 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.

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

ⁿ U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours and Earnings, United States, 1909-1994 (Washington, DC: September 1994), SICs 373 and 44.

^o Ibid., Employment, Hours and Earnings, 1988-1996 (Washington, DC: August 1996), SICs 373 and 44.

^p Ibid., Internet website www.bls.gov as of Aug. 21, 2001.

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

^r U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Summary of U.S. Flag Passenger & Cargo Vessels (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues).

^s U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

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

^u 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

^v U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, G-MAO-2, personal communication.

^w U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterborne Transportation Lines of the United States (New Orleans, LA: Annual issues) part 1, section 1, table 1.

^x U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communication, Feb. 13, 2002.