keywords: mergers shipbuilding shipbuilders ap consolidate
text: European Shipbuilders Mull Mergers (AP) AP - European defense companies know they must unite to keep up, as the gap in military spending between the United States and its NATO allies continues to widen. But a push to consolidate Europe's fragmented shipbuilding sector  #151; a minefield of national, corporate and labor sensitivities  #151; is proving slow and difficult.