The lack of spare capacity in the merchant fleet is the largest constraint on wartime conversion. World War I and World War II mobilization could draw on more slack, while Britain's 1982 Falklands requisitions already created major commercial ripples. Just-in-time logistics, procurement, and shipping minimize cost while every link functions normally. The same efficiency removes the reserve capacity needed to absorb war or other disruptions, as COVID-19 and Suez Canal crises demonstrated. A navy cannot plan merchant auxiliaries by counting hulls alone because taking those ships from trade may undermine the economy and military supply chain they are meant to support.
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Just-in-time shipping leaves no mobilization cushion
Modern trade has too little spare shipping to requisition auxiliaries without economic shock, as the Falklands campaign already demonstrated.