Marine Log - August 2007 - (Page 21) SHORT SEA SHIPPING Since 2003, SeaBridge, Inc., has been working on a plan to use high-speed pentamaran vessels in long-haul passenger and freight services along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coasts CLIMATE CHANGING FOR SHORT SEA SHIPPING ? T raffic congestion has been growing steadily in U.S. cities over the last two decades, with overtaxed, aging highways, roadways and bridges clogged with trucks, cars and buses. Additionally, rising fuel costs and growing concerns about the environment are forcing federal, state and local officials in the U.S. to rethink the way people and cargo are transported. Is the climate right for short sea shipping? There are several pieces of legislation winding their way through Congress that could potentially provide the impetus for new short sea shipping development in the U.S. One such bill is H.R. 2701, the Transportation Energy Security and Climate Mitigation Act of 2007, which contains a section that would amend the Short Sea Shipping Transportation Initiative. The bill, sponsored by Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would create a short sea shipping program under the Secretary of Transportation. Under the program, the Secretary of Transportation would designate short sea shipping transportation routes as extensions of the surface transportation system to focus public and private efforts on using waterways to relieve landside congestion along coastal corridors. Projects designated under the program could either be focused on moving passengers or freight or both. FINANCING ADDS TEETH The real teeth in the legislation comes in the form of financing. The program would include loan guarantees for building, reconstructing or reconditioning a vessel that would be used under a designated short sea shipping project. The total obligations under the loan guarantee could not exceed $2 billion. To carry out the loan guarantee program, the legislation authorizes $25 million per fiscal year from 2008 to 2011. The bill also seeks to amend Section 53501 of title 46, United States Code, to allow the use of Capital Construction Funds (CCF) for short sea shipping. The Secretary of Transportation would also encourage the movement of federally owned or generated cargo via a designated short sea shipping project through memorandums of understanding with other federal agencies. Research would also be conducted into technology, vessel design and other improvements that would reduce air emissions, increase fuel economy and improve intermodal transfers. In late June when the legislation passed out of committee by voice vote, Oberstar said: “Instead of using trucks to move most of our goods, we need to start investing in freight rail and even water transportation to move goods. The legislation sets aside $250 million for shortline and regional railroads to improve track and infrastructure. Additionally, it will establish a new program to promote short sea shipping to move cargo on the Great Lakes and along our sea coasts. Loan guarantees of up to $2 billion will help shippers construct a new class of cargo ship for short sea shipping.” NEW CLASS OF SHIPS What might these new class of cargo ships look like? In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation this past February, Stephen P. Flott, chairman, SeaBridge, Inc., said, “…short sea shipping exists in the United States today and moves significant quantities of goods along our coasts and through our inland waterways. That said, it has also become abundantly clear that we mus find ways to increase substantially the ability of our coastal oceans and inland waterways to add badly needed capacity to our national transportation network.” Flott’s company, SeaBridge Inc., Arlington, Va., wants to develop longAUGUST 2007 MARINE LOG 21 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com
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