<p>Despite the "low numbers", there are still plenty of ships left that always need officers. The U.S. fleet is actually on a slow upswing right now. For example, just this last week, Maersk re-flagged two container ships to the U.S. with a third being re-flagged today. That right there is 24 more officer positions. </p>
<p>Look for a big increase in the Jones-Act trade (coastwise) in the next few years. OSG and US Shipping both have a number of product tankers on order that will be launched in the next 2-5 years, and the ATB (articulated tug-barge) fleet is growing too. Tankermen/PIC's are in high-demand now too, an endorsement that many KP grads hold. The big hype in the industry right now is the return of an LNG fleet in the the U.S-flag. There are a number of mids here that have shipped out as cadets on foreign-flagged LNG ships and a course in LNG operations is now being offered. Some will graduate with LNG endorsements.</p>
<p>A towing program is also in the works at the academy and McAllister Towing is working closely (moreso with the GMATS program) with KP and mids that took an elective last spring got the opportunity to spend a weekend working on a McAllister tug. The towing industry is huge right now and more and more companies are looking for qualified academy grads to be mates and engineers. McAllister, Crowley, Moran, K-Sea, Bouchard and others all recruited heavily last year here. </p>
<p>The war has necessitated a large demand on the Navy and the Military Sealift Command (which is civilian-crewed) is always looking for officers. These are the ships that replenish other Navy ships at sea and also carry most equipment and supplies to the war zones for all of the services. A lot of these officers sail for 8 months or more at a time. </p>
<p>There are numerous shoreside jobs also available, particularly for engineers, although the Maritime Administrator has made it rather clear that shoreside waivers for recent KP grads will be very few and far between. Engineers can find jobs with engineering firms, shipyards, surveyors and even power plants. Deckies are often sought after for cargo surveying, vessel inspections and of course as pilots (further down their career, but always necessary no matter flag the ships are that are coming in). Maritime law is also a field that has many KP grads.</p>
<p>Finally, aprox 1/3 of every class goes active duty military, usually in the Navy, but we also have a handful of every other service too (USMC, USCG, USA, USAF and NOAA).</p>
<p>So, in short, yes, the fleet is obviously much smaller than it was back in the day. However, some of my professors who graduated in the late 80's and early 90's say that things are much better now (the 2000's) than when they graduated. They said that sailing jobs upon graduation back then were very hard to come by - a lot from their classes went shoreside right away and never sailed. The fleet has been on a slow upswing. Since I have been here, I have not heard of one member of the classes of 2006 and 2007 who could not find a job, either as sailing or shoreside. </p>
<p>Job placement out of this place is not really a big worry to anyone.</p>
<p>Also, a good source on the current size of the U.S fleet (including ships on order) can be found at:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipping/usshipping.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipping/usshipping.htm</a></p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>