Maine shipbuilding history does back centuries back to the native Indian times. Maine was first used by the native Indians to build water craft that would be used to conduct trade and transport goods between communities that lived on the banks of the many rivers and water bodies that riddle the area. The Maine shipbuilding industry has since grown over the years and today Maine still prides itself for shipbuilding in the 21^st century.

Native Indians had realized that it would be much easier to transport themselves and goods across the water bodies rather than go round the banks of the river, the same principle also applied to rivers. After European settlers come went to come to the Americas they had to adapt traditional boat builder to construct local ship craft that would be able to help them map the newly found continent. The settlers had sophisticated craft but they were less suited to travelling through the narrow and shallow channels.

They also had to preserve their craft and ships to be able to make the voyage back so they contracted the local native Indian tribes to build them water craft to navigate the waterways. This was the beginning to commercial Maine shipbuilding in the area and the industry slowly grew as the demand grew. As more settlers sailed to the continent the industry grew bigger and even the many revolutions that took place on the east coast didn’t hamper the growth of the industry.

As the industry grew one major factor become apparent in Maine shipbuilding, the vessels produced here would have a limitation on size. This was a growing concern as many ship builder began building bigger ships that reduced transportation cost, but soon Maine shipbuilding companies realized that they had to supply a different market of shipping were size was not a constraint. The area specialized in maintaining and developing marine ships and boats that would be used on the inland water ways. These special vessels since they have shallow and narrow hulls specially adapted to inland water ways.

Maine shipbuilding yards remain famous among the inland water ways systems since they are a major shipbuilding area on the east coast, supplying many of the inland marine craft found on the east coast and even running in to Canada. Many of the ship building yards in the Maine area are family businesses passed down generations, and most carry many generations of partnership between manufacturer and purchaser meaning that trust to build vessel according to their specifications.

The industry that was initially started to make trading among many of the local tribes easier has today flourished with the same intention of enhancing trade along the inland water ways and the industry is expected to grow due to population growth and increase in manufactured and agricultural production in interior that are easier to access via water ways. The future for   Maine shipbuilding companies surely look bright and future generation will also have many opportunities to gain from the industry if they are willing to work hard and positively like their forefathers did.