The international liner shipping industry has been determined by the Department of Homeland Security to be one of the elements of the nation’s “critical infrastructure.” Here’s why:

• Approximately 1,000 oceangoing liner vessels, mostly container ships, make more than 22,000 U.S. port calls each year.

• More than 50,000 containerloads of imports and exports are handled at U.S. port container terminals each day, providing American importers and exporters with efficient transportation services to and from some 175 countries.

• Today, U.S. commerce is served by more than 125 weekly container services, up 60 percent since 1999.

• In 2006 roll-on, roll-off ships brought almost 4 million passenger vehicles and light trucks valued at $83.6 billion into the U.S. It also transported nearly 1 million of these units valued at $18 billion to U.S. trading partners in other countries.

• More than 70 percent of the $700 billion in U.S. oceanborne commerce is transported via liner shipping companies.

• Liner shipping generates more than 1 million American jobs and $38 billion in annual wages.

• This, combined with other industry expenditures in the U.S., results in an industry contribution to U.S. GDP that exceeds $100 billion per year.

Source: World Shipping Council