Marine Support Services NAICS 4883

May 5, 2025 - US Import Volume Plummets

• Import volumes into US ports from China have plummeted because of Trump administration tariffs, with cancellation of orders running at 50% at the end of April 2025, according to global logistics giant Flexport. Shipping companies have been cancelling sailings from China at a 20-30% rate each week, threatening shortages for US retailers of low-margin consumer goods like toys, clothing, shoes, and sports apparel. At the Port of Los Angeles, the main entry point for Asian goods into the US, ship traffic is down significantly, falling 30% in the last week of April from the week prior. According to the National Retail Federation, the back half of 2025 will see a 20% year over year cargo import decline for the US. Consulting firm Drewry estimates that the US trade war will cause a 1% drop in container volume globally by the end of the year.
• An analysis of US ports by World Bank Group and S&P Global found only eight US ports rank in the top 100 of the world’s most efficient water entryways. The port of Charleston, South Carolina was the country’s most efficient, but still ranked at a somewhat lowly 52nd place. US port inefficiency is caused by a lack of automation in data systems and cargo equipment, resulting in longer wait times to process imports and exports. On an efficiency scale of 1 to 10, US ports scored an average of 3.7, while other nations averaged 7.9. Automation is critical to modern port operations, but such upgrades may not occur soon. The US averted a strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association in 2024 that would have crippled East Coast and Gulf ports by raising pay almost 60%, but the issue of automation was kicked down the road into 2025.

• Attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea and drought affecting the Panama Canal have created a “perfect storm” of disruption in global shipping, according to Mike Giambrone, an account executive at logistics provider OEC Group. The Red Sea is a critical shipping lane for cargo traveling through the Suez Canal, which accounts for about 12% of global trade, according to Giambrone. Approximately 30% of global container traffic traverses the Suez Canal, transporting $1 trillion of goods per year, according to the Government of New Zealand. Drought conditions in the Panama Canal, worsened by a severe El Nino, have severely impacted container ship traffic through that key trade route. The Panama Canal accounts for about 7% of global seaborne trade, according to the Wall Street Journal. “It’s really the East Coast and Gulf Coast markets that are going to see the results of this,” Giambrone said. He noted that when there’s a problem on the East Coast, shippers can transfer their capacity to the West Coast, but this can bring additional problems. Giambrone cited the post-COVID shipping surge that resulted in “a parking lot of container ships” at West Coast ports in 2021. Some ships were diverted to the East Coast to ease the congestion. “Then the East Coast started having serious congestion.”
• US waterway tonnage increased 2.3% year over year but decreased 2.9% month over month in June, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Marine support services slightly increased their prices during the first nine months of 2024, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Marine support service industry employment increased slightly during the first nine months of 2024, according to the BLS. Marine support service industry sales are forecast to increase at a 4.32% compounded annual rate from 2024 to 2028, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.