A small number of companies own most of the world's largest semi-submersible heavy-lift ships. Peacetime demand is too limited to make national fleets of such vessels an obvious investment, but wartime value follows a different calculation. During the Second World War, damaged ships were sometimes abandoned or trapped in nearby ports where enemy action finished them off. A movable heavy-lift platform could instead carry a valuable hull away from danger even when that hull could not sail. Assured commercial access is therefore a strategic logistics question rather than merely a shipping contract.
Notable Point · 51:53-53:04
Commercial concentration creates a wartime recovery risk
The small, commercially owned heavy-lift fleet could become a decisive recovery resource in war, when damaged ships cannot safely wait in the nearest port.