The energy boom has happened so quickly that U.S. infrastructure hasn’t been able to keep up; by fall 2015, the only U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal equipped for export was located on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, though several export terminals were under construction, including what will be the nation’s largest: the expanded Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Once completed and operating at full capacity, the terminal will produce more LNG than the world’s existing fleet can carry. The financial firm Morgan Stanley expects U.S. LNG export capacity to rise to 62 million tons annually by 2020.

While there are currently no U.S.-flagged ships capable of carrying LNG, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014, which reauthorizes funding for the U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Maritime Commission, contains a provision that encourages the use of U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged vessels for LNG exports from the United States. Fifteen LNG ships – double-hulled and equipped with sophisticated technologies, ensuring safety and security – are currently on order with U.S. shipbuilders.

Zukunft sees this development as literally the birth of a new U.S. industry. “We’re just starting to dip our toe into the natural gas potential of this country,” he said. “If we’re going to develop this great export potential, and also meet our domestic needs of oil and gas with our production, the Coast Guard has a key role in that in facilitating that commerce.”

Still more changes are afoot: The Panama Canal is undergoing an expansion that will allow vessels to carry more than twice as much cargo, creating a promising link to the Asia-Pacific market and offering a much-needed adjustment to the nation’s foreign trade balance. In the House of Representatives, legislators are negotiating an end to the ban signed into law 40 years ago, by President Gerald R. Ford, on the heels of the devastating Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries oil embargo – on U.S. exports of crude oil.

President Barack Obama, cautioning that U.S. oil consumption still exceeds its production, has raised the possibility of vetoing such a proposal. At the same time, America’s black gold rush has tapered off: Global factors have contributed to an oil price tumble, to around half of what it was a year ago, and the pace of MTS energy transports has slowed from its 2013 peak.

But the U.S. energy renaissance is far from over, and changes in MTS energy traffic, in the numbers and types of U.S. transport vessels, and in port sizes and capabilities, present the Coast Guard with a significant challenge: managing, protecting, and regulating this increased maritime activity while facilitating commerce and ultimately increasing America’s economic security.

The Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus (Always Ready), implies a near-constant degree of unknowing. Though the future of the U.S. LNG and crude oil fleets is still uncertain, the Coast Guard is already preparing – in conversations with shipping companies, shipbuilders, and nongovernmental classification societies such as the American Bureau of Shipping, which establishes and maintains technical standards for the marine-related facilities. “If we’re going to see a resurgence of the U.S.-flagged fleet,” said Zukunft, “we do not want to become the speed bump that would prevent this really burgeoning growth in our shipyards and in our ports, and certainly the impact it would have on our current balance of trade.”

The Coast Guard’s plan to accommodate these growing demands on the MTS includes four chief elements, including an increase in the number of, and proficiency of, its trained vessel inspectors. It also includes investments in technologies – such as Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems – that mitigate some of the potential for human error by allowing for virtual aids to navigation and near-real-time updates, corrections, and safety information.