Development Overview The total number of merchant ships in the world is increasing with the development of the world economy. From 1900 to 19 14 on the eve of World War I, the number of merchant ships continued to increase, with an average annual growth rate of 5.2% in terms of gross tonnage. Between the two world wars (19 19 ~ 1939), although the number of merchant ships decreased in a few years due to economic depression, it still increased by 1.8% on average every year. After World War II, due to the economic growth of most countries and the rapid increase of international trade volume, the average annual growth rate of 1948 ~ 1982 was 5.0%, of which 1965 ~ 1977 was 7.7%. Compared with 1982 and 1948, the number of ships increased by 1.6 times and the total tonnage increased by 4.3 times. According to Lloyd's Register of Shipping, as of June 30th, 1982, there were 75 15 1 maritime mobile merchant ships with a gross tonnage of 1000 and a gross tonnage of 42474 1682. See table11982 (1000 gross tonnage or more) for the number and tonnage of merchant ships in the world. According to the statistics of Lloyd's Register of Shipping (1984 July 1), the number of ships has increased to more than 76,000, but the total tonnage has slightly decreased to 418 million tons. The development of merchant fleets in various countries is uneven. Among the developed countries in the past, some countries, such as Japan, Greece and the Federal Republic of Germany, are still developing rapidly. Some countries, such as Britain, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, have developed very slowly. Some countries and regions with underdeveloped shipping, such as China, the Soviet Union, India, Brazil, South Korea, Poland, Kuwait, Yugoslavia, the Philippines, Romania and other countries, have developed rapidly and now have huge merchant fleets. Other developing countries have also established their own merchant fleets.
Among the 1982 world merchant fleets, there are 10 (Table 2 1982 Top Ten Maritime Merchant Fleet) with a total tonnage exceeding 100 ~100. Liberia and Panama have huge merchant fleets, because they implement an open registration system (see ship registration), and there are a large number of ships flying the flags of convenience of foreign owners in the merchant fleet. It is mainly the shipowners of the United States, Hong Kong, Greece and Japan who transfer their ships to these two countries to register, acquire nationality and fly the national flag for the sake of low ship registration fee, exemption from income tax, unrestricted foreign exchange for business income and other profit restrictions. Merchant ships registered in foreign countries are called "flags of convenience" and ships flying flags of convenience are called flag of convenience ships.
After World War II, the world economy developed rapidly, and the transportation volume of fuel, raw materials and industrial and agricultural products increased rapidly, which led to the specialization and large-scale trend of merchant ships. Traditional cargo ships are divided into special bulk carriers and ordinary cargo ships, and there are liquid carriers. Ordinary cargo ships have developed into container ships and multi-purpose ships. There are large-tonnage super-large oil tankers and super-large oil tankers. Due to the rapid development of air transport, long-distance luxury regular passenger ships tend to disappear and tourist ships take their place.
In the past 30 years, the growth rate of international trade and seaborne bulk cargo transactions has exceeded other types of dry goods. The international trade volume of iron ore, grain, coal, apatite and bauxite accounts for an increasing proportion in the international trade volume of goods and international trade turnover except oil. In this way, the traditional ordinary cargo ships can no longer meet the needs in quantity, economy and technical performance, so a bulk cargo fleet with large ships as the main body has emerged. From 1964 to1982,6000 gross tonnage, the gross tonnage of bulk carriers increased at an average annual rate of 10%. At the same time, the growth of international maritime oil trade is much faster than that of dry goods trade, and the oil fleet is also expanding rapidly, and its tonnage accounts for an increasing proportion of the total tonnage of the world merchant fleet. Since 1973, oil prices have risen sharply, and countries have taken fuel-saving measures, so the oil transportation volume has been stagnant. The proportion of world oil tanker tonnage to the total tonnage of the world merchant fleet decreased after it reached 44.2% in 1977. There was a large surplus of oil tankers, so they were put on hold. After 1980s, the tonnage of world oil tankers dropped significantly. Table 3 The change of world tanker tonnage reflects the change of world tanker tonnage and proportion.
Nowadays, the United States has an important task every day, which is to accurately track the movements of *** 12 1000 merchant ships operating around the world through remote sensing detection systems and other reconnaissance means, and transmit the collected information to the US Naval Reconnaissance Bureau, the US Coast Guard Headquarters and the relevant departments of the US Department of Homeland Security at the first time. At the same time, the United States also plans to expand the Rapid Reserve Marine Corps (RRF), which was established in 1976 and participated in the operations of "Desert Shield" and "Desert Storm", so as to further play its important role as a wartime naval reserve force. Britain, Russia and other countries are also increasingly strengthening their usual military training and maritime transport exercises for merchant ships. These phenomena show that the nature and status of merchant fleet as a wartime naval reserve force are paid more and more attention by coastal countries.
Dual identity of merchant fleet
The identity of the merchant fleet has always been twofold: it is usually responsible for maritime transportation, and it becomes a naval reserve force in wartime, undertaking functions such as strategic transportation, logistics support and medical support. When the early western powers engaged in maritime hegemony and colonial conquest, there was no strict difference between merchant ships and warships. During World War I and World War II, merchant ships from western countries participated in the war on a large scale, and most of the combat troops were transported to the war zone by merchant ships instead of landing ships. During World War II, the United States was called the "arsenal of the Allies", and a large number of equipment and materials produced by it were transported to the other side of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a huge merchant fleet to support the Allied operations. The Middle East War, Falklands War, Gulf War, Kosovo War and Iraq War have all proved time and again that the victory or defeat of modern naval warfare does not depend entirely on the number, tonnage and weapon performance of ships, but also on the function and effectiveness of maritime logistics support. According to statistics, after World War II, there were nearly 300 local wars and armed conflicts around the world, more than 80% of which involved the navy. In addition, modern naval warfare is unprecedentedly fierce, costly and protracted. Therefore, relying solely on the supply of military auxiliary ships can no longer meet the needs, and must rely on the requisition of a large number of merchant ships to directly serve the war. For example, in the Falklands naval battle, the British army requisitioned 63 merchant ships, including container ships, ordinary dry cargo ships, oil tankers, ro-ro ships, tugboats, etc., and formed a "floating logistics" with auxiliary ships. Among them, two merchant ships were temporarily converted into aircraft carriers, and more than 5,000 crew members participated in the war, laying the foundation for the British to recapture the island. During the Gulf War, the US military mobilized the merchant fleet to transport hundreds of thousands of personnel, various weapons and equipment, logistics equipment and other more than 30 million tons of trench from thousands of miles away to the Gulf within six months. It is the merchant fleet that has great potential military benefits, which is why it is praised as the "second navy" by military experts. The particularity of merchant fleet also makes some military powers regard merchant ships as an important strategic target for military monitoring and reconnaissance.
Military powers attach importance to the construction of merchant fleet
All military powers attach great importance to the construction of merchant fleet and crew as naval reserve forces, which are embodied as follows: First, the law clearly stipulates the nature and mission of merchant fleet as naval reserve forces in wartime. For example, the American Maritime Education and Training Act of 1980 clearly stipulates that the crew of merchant ships "naturally become military auxiliary personnel of the US Navy in wartime and national emergency". Second, we attach great importance to the usual military training of the merchant fleet. For example, the US Navy regularly assists the shipping department in conducting global maritime transport exercises, at least 3-4 times a year; Russian passenger ships are generally trained in personnel transportation and medical rescue. Third, there are very strict restrictions on obtaining the training qualification of merchant seamen. For example, American law stipulates that the enrollment of students in the American Merchant Marine College shall be implemented by the "nomination system for members of Congress" and a competitive system for selecting students from the Merchant Marine College shall be established. This regulation undoubtedly established the status of the Merchant Marine Academy and its importance in the national economy and national defense strategy, thus attracting more aspiring young people to join the maritime cause. Fourthly, the training process of merchant seamen embodies a strong military color. For example, the president of the American Merchant Marine Academy is a brigadier general, and the navy sends officers to live on campus for a long time and is responsible for military training and military theory lectures for freshmen. "Make sure that the maritime colleges ... meet the standards of the US Navy." The navigation major of Korea Ocean University requires strict military training and navigation skills training. Graduates were awarded the rank of second lieutenant in South Korea's naval reserve while obtaining their degrees and seamen's adaptation certificates.
The construction of China merchant fleet should be forward-looking.
Throughout history, there is a law that historians generally agree: those who are stronger than the world prosper in the ocean, those who are weaker than the world lose in the ocean. 2 1 century is the century of ocean. Today, China has more than 3 million square kilometers of blue land,10.8 million kilometers of coastline and10.4 million ports, which is more inseparable from the ocean than at any time in history: more than 90% of imported oil depends on the ocean; The supply of resources for sustainable development will mainly depend on the ocean; As an important part of the future national economy, marine economy must take the ocean as its mother and stage. There is no doubt that China's merchant fleet and crew are an important force in safeguarding maritime sovereignty and consolidating maritime national defense.
In the process of transforming from a shipping power to a shipping power, China's merchant fleet should select and determine the fleet with good ship condition and high manning quality as the supplementary force of the wartime naval reserve force designated by the state, and learn from the practice of maritime military powers, pay attention to peacetime military training, improve military skills, strengthen the ability of rapid assembly, organization and command, grab and unload, repair and fully protect, so as to ensure that they can come at any time in case of war. It is necessary to strengthen the training of merchant seamen's military quality, and cultivate their strong sense of responsibility and obedience, as well as their bold style of dealing with emergencies. Nowadays, China's merchant fleet is also facing more and more man-made risks, such as being attacked by pirates, illegally detained by other governments or warships, and mistakenly attacked in war-torn waters. At the same time, due to the frequent completion of national tasks such as rushing to transport, aiding foreign countries and evacuating overseas Chinese, it is necessary to travel to and from hot spots in the world. If the crew of merchant ships do not have military qualities, it is difficult to ensure their own life safety, and it is also difficult to defend ship safety and national interests.
Merchant seamen are mainly students from maritime colleges. Maritime colleges and universities in the United States, Russia and other countries generally adopt naval reserve system or paramilitary management system, while maritime colleges and universities in China adopt semi-militarized management system. In contrast, the implementation of semi-militarized management in China's maritime colleges is not only weak in management strength and low in efficiency, but also lacking in systems and conditions that match the personnel training objectives. Therefore, China's legislative, administrative, military and other departments should actively explore, pay more attention to the training of maritime talents, issue relevant laws and regulations, bring the semi-military management system into the legal track, and promote the improvement of the semi-military management system, so as to continuously meet China's national defense needs and ensure the safety of maritime transportation.
The training of national defense students in maritime colleges should be closely combined with coastal defense. At present, the training of national defense students in maritime colleges and other local colleges tends to be formulaic and paradigmatic, and the characteristics of disciplines and specialties in maritime colleges should be further highlighted. At present, there are not many maritime colleges and universities in China that are qualified to undertake the task of training national defense students. Therefore, the state should give full play to the special role of relying on maritime colleges to train naval defense students, introduce relevant policies and measures, and closely combine the characteristics of maritime technology, marine engineering and other majors with the training of national defense students, so that the trained national defense students can face coastal defense in a targeted manner, truly become the talent support for China's progress from a shipping power to a shipping power, and become an important part of the naval auxiliary force.