It was one of the UK’s most successful shipbuilders (a member of an exceedingly exclusive club in modern times) who said that, “once grass starts to grow on the slipways, you will never see a ship on them again.”
And as the years progressed, and the locus of global shipbuilding moved remorselessly eastwards, it became difficult to contradict his observation.
Is it possible to “re-industrialise” after decades when this decline in heavy industries throughout the West has become a matter for resignation and regret, rather than anything more positive?
Or is this word just something of a forlorn hope, spoken by political leaders with a domestic agenda and few concrete ideas of how this might be achieved?
Other commentators have queried the policy of localising production if the end product continues to be hugely more expensive than what is emerging from established Eastern production lines.
Something of the scale of the problem was manifested a few days ago, while the newish UK Prime Minister was waxing lyrical about re-industrialising Britain and, among other things, building floating docks for the Royal Navy.
That same day saw an aerial photograph of one of the major Chinese shipyards, which showed an array of eight huge bulk carriers, rafted up in neat pairs, alongside their fitting-out berths. Ashore were half a dozen more monsters not yet afloat, in their building docks.
And there would be little doubt that other giant yards in the region, would have seen multiple huge container ships in various stages of completion, and in other yards, VLCCs in profusion.
This is what industrialisation really looks like, and what sadly, has long emigrated from the West.
President Trump is also an enthusiast for re-industrialising his country, and is attempting to revitalise US shipbuilding with a curious strategy of bullying overseas expertise, with the threats of tariffs and worse, into setting up in a sort of uneasy partnership with US firms.
It will be interesting to see whether this “carrot or stick” policy succeeds, and more to the point, survives any succeeding administration once the ebullient Trump is history.
Some have suggested that it is a big ask to export the terrifying South Korean work ethic and culture into US shipyards, which have been permitted to languish for years.
Other more realistic commentators have queried the policy of localising production – arguably useful in itself – if the end product continues to be hugely more expensive than the ships emerging from established Eastern production lines.
The one element that tends to be sidelined is the human component and where all the experienced shipbuilders are to come from.
Should not an advanced nation, in these days of specialisation, concentrate upon those sectors in which it excels, rather than trying to turn the clock back?
Certainly, some Eastern excellence could do wonders for warship construction in the US, but whether it is even desirable to try and build numbers of standard merchant ships again is a very moot point. Doing something about the Jones Act instead, might be rather more fulfilling.
And amid all the rhetoric about reactivating and investment, the one element that tends to be sidelined is the human component and where all the experienced shipbuilders are to come from, to populate the revitalised industries.
There is no short-term fix available; no residue of former maritime experts just waiting for the green light. By the time that the grass grew on their former slipways, they will have long moved on to other activities.
It will be a long-term business to recruit, to persuade potential shipbuilders that there is really a worthwhile future, and that the rewards are sufficiently attractive. There will be a substantial bill for training, at every level, as shipyards ramp up their activities.
It is significant that the Japanese Government, which has recently announced that it will be attempting to revitalise their industry, is encouraging a strong focus on high-tech construction and the use of advanced robots, people in their ageing population being at something of a premium. It might be suggested that in this method, they are playing to their traditional strengths.
And at the end of these industrial strategies, the proof of the pudding will be whether ships can built competitively. The artificial tool of tariffs and political machinations to promote domestic construction has, on many occasions in the past, proved illusory and ineffective.