Marine Log - January 2008 - (Page 2) January 2008 Vol. 113 No. 1 John R. Snyder Editor ISSN 08970491 MARINELOG amcginnis@sbpub.com USPS 576-910 editorial PUBLISHER Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & EDITOR John R. Snyder jsnyder@sbpub.com SENIOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com Good tidings for short sea shipping EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Shirley Del Valle CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Nigel Kitchen sdelvalle@sbpub.com nkitchen@msn.com MARKETING DIRECTOR Peter Sexton psexton@sbpub-chicago.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com A s I was listening to the radio in my car in bumper-to-bumper holiday traffic, my spirits were suddenly lifted. No, there wasn’t some heart-warming holiday ditty playing on the radio. Rather, the newscaster reported that President Bush had signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. While it’s not the stuff of a Frank Capra film, the new law does have some good tidings for short sea shipping advocates. What’s short sea shipping? Simply put, it’s the coastwise movement of containerized cargo. As defined under the new law, these cargo containers would have to be loaded onto a vessel either by crane or by means of wheeled technology for transit to and from ports in the U.S. or ports in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System. Dry bulk and liquid bulk cargoes aren’t included. The whole idea is to reduce road and rail congestion and keep commerce moving efficiently. Here’s some highlights of the new law: • New DOT program The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) would establish a Short Sea Transportation Program to promote its use and designate projects that could be conducted. • Routes The DOT would designate potential routes as extensions of the surface transportation system to focus public and private efforts on the waterways to relieve land-side congestion along coastal corridors. • Cargo The DOT would sign MOU with other federal agencies to move their cargo via short sea shipping. • Research The DOT would conduct research into vessel design, improving fuel efficiency and making intermodal transfers more efficient. • Funding An important provision in the new law is the extension of the Maritime Administration’s Capital Construction Fund (CCF). Now, owners and operators will be able to use beforetax dollars they have accumulated in CCF for short sea shipping projects. That’s good news for U.S.-flag shipping companies and U.S. shipyards. Prior to the amendment, CCF only could be applied to the U.S. foreign trade and the U.S. noncontiguous trade. One missing piece of the short sea shipping puzzle is the Harbor Maintenance Tax. Right now, HMT is levied on cargoes that are imported into a U.S. port or on cargo that is moved between two U.S. ports. This means that international cargo shipped via vessel from one U.S. port to another would be taxed twice. By contrast, freight loaded onto trucks isn’t subject to a similar tax, leaving short sea shipping at a distinct disadvantage. It’s now up to Congress to provide HMT relief. If they are really serious about reducing highway congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, it would be the smart, green thing to do. Look for more coverage on short sea shipping next month. jsnyder@sbpub.com ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Phil Desiere pdesiere@sbpub.com ART PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Blanchard tblanchard@sbpub.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mary Conyers-Brown mbrown@sbpub.com NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Roland Espinosa respinosa@sbpub.com INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Donna Edwards dedwards@sbpub.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE -KOREA Young-Seoh Chinn jesmedia@unitel.co.kr SALES MANAGER Jeff Sutley CLASSIFIED SALES Diane Okon jsutley@sbpub.com dokon@sbpub-chicago.com CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Jane Poterala jpoterala@sbpub.com CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Michelle M. Zolkos mzolkos@sbpub.com A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLICATION EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 TEL: (212) 620-7200 FAX: (212) 633-1165 website: www.marinelog.com e-mail: marinelog@sbpub.com CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call toll free (800) 895-4389, Monday-Friday 9 am—5 pm EST. 2 MARINE LOG JANUARY 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.abb.com http://www.abb.com http://www.marinelog.com
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