By sea once again
23/02/09 20:28 Filed in: Shipping
If the idea gathers steam (and funds), the Erie Canal, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes and other coastal and inland “marine highways”--once the most efficient means for transporting goods around the country--would again play a more prominent role in the shipping industry.
But why the shift?
Fuel prices and global warming are two reasons eyes have turned toward the nation’s roughly 25,000 miles of navigable waterways. A need to spur job growth and the sizable cost to an already languishing economy of road and rail congestion are two more, AP reported.
According to the U.S. Transportation Department, about 94 percent of freight shipped domestically travel by train or truck, and the congestion caused by moving so much freight by only these two (often troubled) industries costs $200 billion a year and 44 billion hours of manpower.
“In a day and age when we’re trying to save energy and reduce pollution and we’re trying to take some of the clutter off our highways, it just makes sense to do it,” Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) told AP.
And such a plan would likely resonate with residents of depressed former ports along the nation’s marine highways. Towns along the Erie Canal system and the Great Lakes come to mind--on both sides of the border.
Yes, Canada is also interested. The two nations have been exploring short-sea shipping as an option as part of the larger International Mobility & Trade Corridor Project; In 2004, the IMTC coalition initiated a study to explore its viability.
But, of course, transforming an idea of this scale into reality is not without its problems:
Price tag to update the nation’s lock system: Roughly $125 billion (at least)
Scarcity of U.S. ships to for short-sea routes
Containing spills--oil, in particular--should they occur
While ship spills may not occur as frequently, according to a Texas Transportation Institute study, the long-term impact can be far more devastating. Ships grounding--and the destruction that can cause--is also a reality. The most recent example is the damage caused by a U.S. Navy vessel to a coral reef in Hawaii.
And there are more unanswered questions: Will the end of “truck-clogged U.S. highways” mean waterways congested and polluted by ships (even more so than they are now)? What portion of the nation’s shipping of freight will move by short-sea routes? What is a realistic estimate of the environmental impact versus the economic stimulus? It’s early days still, but it seems to be a story worth keeping an eye on.
Photo credit: Michael McMahon ©2008
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