The Bay Area was once a global shipbuilding and maritime industry powerhouse, churning out more than 1,400 ships at 30 shipyards spread across the region during World War II.
The Bay Area Council announced its strong support for visionary plans by California Forever, a private development company, to build a massive shipbuilding and maritime industry hub in Solano County on thousands of acres of underutilized land which for decades has been designated for just that purpose.
Shipbuilding and maritime industry
The plan would relaunch the Bay Area’s once global-leading shipbuilding and maritime industry and aligns with the Bay Area Council’s expansive and long-held regional vision for reenergizing, activating and growing our waterfront and maritime industries to create tens of thousands of well-paying jobs and generate widespread economic opportunity. Council CEO Jim Wunderman recently toured the Solano site and came away extremely impressed by the incredible potential of the plans for Solano Shipyard.
Revitalize the Bay Area’s industrial might.
“Standing on the waterfront and imagining a world-class shipbuilding facility as part of a larger, thriving regional maritime industry, the excitement was palpable,” Wunderman said. “It’s not often that the conditions align to make a visionary plan like this possible and it’s in those moments we must seize the opportunity. The benefits to the Bay Area, California and our nation will be remarkable. Time to weigh anchor on this new chapter to revitalize the Bay Area’s industrial might.”
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More than 1,400 ships at 30 shipyards
Indeed, the Bay Area was once a global shipbuilding and maritime industry powerhouse, churning out more than 1,400 ships at 30 shipyards spread across the region during World War II.
The timing couldn’t be better
The timing couldn’t be better for relaunching the Bay Area’s shipbuilding and maritime industry. The issue has strong bipartisan support. According to a recent poll released by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, 72% of Americans agreed that the United States cannot remain dependent on foreign manufacturers, and 68% saying this is a matter of national security.
Building ships at the scale America needs requires more than docks and cranes—it takes tens of thousands of workers, and a city to support them.
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Great American cities grew around shipyards.
Across history, great American cities grew around shipyards. From Seattle to San Diego, communities thrived by supporting the work of shipyards. Abroad, our allies in Japan and South Korea have done the same: building cities to support industrial shipbuilding.
The opportunity to carry that legacy
Solano County has the opportunity to carry that legacy forward. With a new city in development and strong neighboring communities, we can provide the workforce, infrastructure, and vision to help America lead again.
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It is noteworthy that In 1989, Solano County identified the south coast as suitable for specifically maritime development, sometime around 2010
Just 15 miles northeast of the proposed Solano Shipyard lies Travis Air Force Base—America’s Gateway to the Pacific and the nation’s largest Air Mobility Command installation. Ten miles to the west is Military Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO), the primary West Coast hub for shipping ammunition and supplies to U.S. forces across the Pacific.
Together, Travis AFB, MOTCO, and the Solano Shipyard would form a powerful triad to deter and respond to threats across the Indo-Pacific region.
Solano closes a critical gap in America shipbuilding map
The East and Gulf Coasts
Our nation’s shipyards are concentrated on the East and Gulf Coasts, Solano bridges the distance between Bremerton, WA and San Diego, CA, strengthening our maritime presence where it is needed most—without drawing from existing labor pools. Solano creates a new, dedicated West Coast shipbuilding workforce.
