Marine Log - February 2008 - (Page 27)

BY H. CLAYTON COOK JR.* COASTALSHIPPING ANOTHER PIECE OF THE SHORT SEA TRANSPORT PUZZLE n Europe and the United States the past half dozen years have born increasing witness to highway traffic congestion concerns and to the use of water transport as a possible supplement and alternative. The European Community has moved to embrace water transport for its container and Rollon/Roll-Off traffic through its “Motorways of the Sea” concept. In the U.S., multiple “choke points” and miles of bumper-tobumper traffic characterize travel on major highways that run parallel to ocean coastal waters. Everyone agrees that these coastal waters “could” provide additional transportation capacity. Successive Secretaries at the Department of Transportation (DOT) and reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have addressed the need for a comprehensive federal program that would foster such planning. With the enactment of the Marine Transportation sections of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Congress and the Bush Administration have provided the Secretary of Transportation with the authority for such a program—to facilitate DOT and state and local government collaborations, and to attract public and private sector investment for short sea transportation (SST) infrastructure projects to access the potential of our nation’s ocean highways. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING A PROGRAM Sections 1121, 1122 and 1123 of the act appear as the first and most important of a likely series of Congressional actions to provide a favorable legal regime for public and private sector investments to create the infrastructure I necessary for new coastwise and other domestic waterborne services. The Congressional sponsors of the act have provided the Secretary authority to develop and implement a comprehensive SST program, with specific Congressionally mandated elements. The objective is the creation of a plan for the creation of an environment that will foster federal, state and local cooperation in the planning and financing of shoreside infrastructure, and attract private sector investment to finance vessel requirements, while at the same time providing strictly limited elements of direct federal assistance. As one reviews the legislation, certain Secretarial actions are mandated as “shall” while others are merely permitted as “may.” Section 1121 of the Act provides that the Secretary “shall establish a short sea transportation program and designate short sea transportation projects to be conducted under the program to mitigate landside congestion, and encourage the use of short sea transportation through the development and expansion of: (1) documented vessels; (2) shipper utilization; (3) port and landside infrastructure; and (4) marine transportation strategies by State and local governments.” And, in administering the SST Program, the Secretary shall: • Designate SST routes as extensions of the surface transportation system to focus public and private efforts to use the waterways to relieve landside congestion along coastal corridors; • Enter into memorandums of understanding with other Federal entities to transport federally owned or generated cargo using program designated SST projects when practical or available; • Consult with shippers and other participants in transportation logistics and develop proposals for short-term incentives to encourage the use of SST in consultation with federal entities and State and local governments; • Develop strategies to encourage the use of SST of passengers and cargo; • Assess the extent to which states and local governments include SST and other marine transportation solutions in their transportation planning, and encourage State departments of transportation to develop strategies, where appropriate, to incorporate SST, ferries, and other marine transportation solutions for regional and interstate transport of freight and passengers in their transportation planning; • Encourage groups of states and multi-state transportation entities to determine how SST can address conges- www.marinelog.com FEBRUARY 2008 MARINE LOG 27 ILLUSTRATION: NICOLE FREDRICKSON http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - February 2008

Marine Log - February 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Cruise Growth: Driven by Megaships and Europe Another Piece of the Short Sea Transport Puzzle Putting Together a More Advanced Jones Act Tanker Evolving Propulsion Options for Diesel Electric Ships In Search of Smarter Shipbuilding Seatrade Peview Events Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Website Directory Infodirect ML Marketplace Opinions

Marine Log - February 2008

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