Recent studies suggest that moving more freight to the seas could alleviate congestion along some of the nation’s busiest freight corridors, such as Interstate 95 on the East Coast and the Ambassador Bridge crossing between the United States and Canada at Detroit.
On Thursday, Feb. 15, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on short sea shipping (SSS) as a viable alternative to shipping freight by truck. The hearing took place in the subcommittee of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, chaired by Congressman Elijah Cummings, D-Md. The purpose of the hearing, Cummings said, was to determine to what extent government assistance is necessary for SSS to become a solution to traffic congestion.
In his opening statements, Cummings said maritime transportation accounts for 13 percent of the total freight tonnage moved in the country, compared to 70 percent by trucks. All transportation modes receive more attention than maritime, he said. As an example, the 2007 budget for maritime transportation is $446 million compared to $39 billion in federal highway aid to states.
“Congestion should be the top concern for every driver stuck behind a semi-truck in rush hour,” Cummings said.
The term “short sea shipping” describes a mode of transportation for moving commercial freight between domestic ports through inland and coastal waterways. Most of the freight being moved through SSS is bulk cargo shipments such as petroleum and grain that do not have to be moved in a time-sensitive manner.
Some SSS proponents — such as Arlington, Va.-based SeaBridge Inc. (www.seabridgeferries.com) — are targeting long-haul truck movements and believe that trucks, and their drivers, could be ferried for quick movement along the Eastern coast. For example, SeaBridge believes that a driver could pick up a shipment in Connecticut, drive to a port in New York and board a high-speed ferry bound to northern Florida. While on the ferry, the driver could sleep and obtain his needed rest period.
Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton said during his testimony that waterways or “marine highways” are underutilized. A few shippers are using SSS to move containerized freight through inland waterways and the Great Lakes, and thus taking cargo off of the roadways. Getting shippers to buy into SSS services to move containers and trucks along the East Coast is difficult due to the lack of facilities and the scarcity of port space, he said.
