SPECIAL NEWS ROUNDUP ON THE MARINE HIGHWAY INITIATIVE
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation to reduce global warming through greater transportation efficiencies and conservation initiatives. The major freight goods movement components of House Resolution (HR) 2701, the Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007, will integrate the marine highway into our Nation’s overall intermodal transportation system. Title IV of the bill 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 $2b will help marine operators and shippers construct a new class of cargo vessels suitable for short sea shipping. The full text of HR 2701 will be available at Library of Congress webpage.
H.R. 2701: Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007
To strengthen our Nation's energy security and mitigate the effects of climate change by promoting energy efficient transportation and public buildings, creating incentives for the use of alternative fuel vehicles and renewable energy, and ensuring sound water resource and natural disaster preparedness planning, and for other purposes. This bill includes provisions for a short sea transportation initiative and a green ports initiative.
READ MORE
Bill Analysis
The Bill itself
Section 401 concerns the Short Sea Transportation Initiative to mitigate land traffic congestion.
House Bill Sets Aside $100 Million for Title XI
August 22, 2007, Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Legislation that seeks to forestall gridlock in the nation’s transportation system passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 241 to 172. Among other things, it would enhance employment opportunities for U.S. shipyard workers by establishing a $100 million pilot shipbuilding program for what it calls “short sea shipping”, also called Marine Highways
READ MORE
America’s Marine Highway Initiative Summary
Marine Highways Initiative Information Clearinghouse, Spring 2007
Early this decade, the Maritime Administration’s leadership recognized the need to address
landside congestion through the expanded use of waterborne transportation alternatives,
specifically through the accelerated development of coastwise waterborne shipping services.
Short sea shipping is cost effective for the movement of high volume and bulk freight, more fuel
efficient per cargo ton mile, and a vital alternative transportation mode in a natural disaster.
When fully integrated into the Nation’s transportation system, the marine highway will facilitate
enhanced freight flow, expand freight capacity, reduce congestion, and improve air quality. The
expanded utilization of the marine highway can also remove potentially hazardous cargo from
our Nation’s rail and highways …
This informative article describes the evolution of the initiative, numerous organizations involved and many studies such as one by the I-95 Corridor Coalition, a public-private partnership composed of state DOT agencies and transportation planning organizations along the Eastern seaboard. Phase I of the study assessed commodity flows and attempts to determine the viability and sustainability of a short sea shipping service along the Maine to Florida transportation corridor. Phase II of the study will commence in late 2006 and will attempt to incorporate the participation of metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in an attempt to bring water-based transportation, especially short sea shipping services, into the overall local transportation planning process. The Coalition study found: The I-95 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic corridor is physically suited for short sea operations.
- Congestion drives the business model for short sea shipping.
- In less than 15 years, the Corridor transportation system will be strained beyond capacity
- truck traffic on the I-95 Corridor is expected to increase from 32,000 trailers daily in
- 2004 to 58,000 trucks per day by 2020.
- State and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) should play a critical role
READ ABOUT THE MARINE HIGHWAYS INITIATIVE IN MORE DETAIL
MarAd Launches New Website
MarineLink.com
The Maritime Administration has launched a new Web site, promoting its Marine Highway Initiative. The site provides an information clearinghouse on the Marine Highway Initiative, providing these services:
• Contact information for marine operators and potential shippers.
• Recent reports, links and coming events
• Assistance to shippers in locating vessels (Ship it Here)
• Updates on the Maritime Administration’s government-industry partnership (SCOOP)
• A free subscription service for website update
• Beneficial information for hazmat providers
• News regarding the Marine Highway Initiative
• Waterway promotional information from the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico
• A link to the Maritime Administration’s congestion relief partner, the I-95 Corridor Coalition.
That MARAD site includes:
A Special Message from Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton on the Marine Highway Initiative
Welcome to our Marine Highway Initiative website. I am pleased to announce this new site in an effort to bring marine highways more fully into our transportation system. Specifically, this site has been created to serve as an electronic clearinghouse to promote waterborne transportation as an engine of economic growth.
Our marine highways are a cost effective, yet under utilized, method for the movement of passengers, containers, and bulk cargoes that is especially fuel efficient, safe, and reliable.
Accelerated use of the waterborne transportation mode holds forth a special promise for tomorrow in; reducing traffic congestion, enhancing freight flow, expanding freight capacity, and providing a new pathway for hazardous materials.
MARAD Website Shows US Marine Highway Operators
America's marine highways are defined by the marine operators that carry cargo via the coastal waters, lakes, and river systems of North America; having at least one port of call in the United States. Types of vessels that are employed on the marine highway can be classified as: tug and barges (sea-going), tug and barges (river type), small ships, liquid bulk, dry bulk, break bulk, intermodal (container, roll-on/roll-off, lighter aboard ship), and rail-ferry. Today's marine operators and logistics providers are under intense pressure to compete and maintain a high quality of service in order to offer shippers added value to their cargoes. The marine highway can provide an effective alternative as a link in the multimodal system. Examples of marine highway operations and operators (including contact information) are available below.
This site includes an illustration of America's marine highway services and links to Regional Operations. LINK TO MARAD INFO
OTHER MARITIME INDUSTRY NEWS
MarAd Announces Commitment for U.S.-Flag Vessels
July 31, 2007, MarineLink.com
The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration announced an agreement that could lead to the first LNG ships registered in the United States in almost ten years, potentially creating almost 200 jobs for U.S. mariners. Officials from Woodside Natural Gas, Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., committed to Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton and representatives from seafaring trade unions that Woodside will create a U.S. presence in the rapidly growing international liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet.
READ MORE
Coast Guard Issues New Oil Barge Regulations
August 31, 2007, MarineLink.com
According to reports, the Coast Guard has issued new rules governing the transportation of oil through Buzzards Bay that require single-hulled tankers and oil barges to be escorted by a second tugboat. The rules are designed to reduce the likelihood of a spill and apply to vessels carrying 5,000 or more barrels of oil. They also require the primary tugboat to have a federally licensed pilot on board, independent of the master and crew.
READ MORE
Shipbuilders Awarded Training Funds
August 29, 2007, Maritime Today
A pair of grants totaling nearly $58,000 will be used to train 245 workers at two shipbuilders in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., the Business Journal of Milwaukee reported. The Workforce Advancement Training Grants from the Wisconsin Technical College System were awarded to Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) in Green Bay. The funds will be used for training workers from Bay Shipbuilding Co., a manufacturer of commercial ships, and yacht maker Palmer Johnson Yachts.
READ MORE
Study: Cruise Industry Generated $35.7b
to U.S. Economy
August 29, MarineLink.com
The North American cruise industry last year generated $35.7b in gross U.S. economic output and supported 348,000 American jobs paying $14.7 billion in wages, according to a new report prepared for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). The report shows total cruise industry spending increased by 10 percent in 2006 and finds that the overall spending had an impact in all 50 states. Direct purchases by the cruise lines for goods and services such as food and beverage, fuel, equipment, business services, port services, vessel maintenance and repair as well as purchases by crew and passengers of goods and services related to cruising, including pre- and post-cruise stays, airfare and lodging, totaled $17.6 billion in 2006. READ MORE
New Study Details Economic Benefits of U.S. Seaports
August 28, 2007
Last year, United States deep-draft seaports and seaport-related businesses generated approximately 8.4 million American jobs and added nearly $2 trillion to the economy, according to a just-completed study by a Lancaster, Pa.-based business consulting service that specializes in port-sector economic impact studies. Based upon 2006 U.S. port cargo statistics and thousands of recent port-sector interviews, Martin Associates late this month completed an in-depth study into the economic impacts of coastal and Great Lakes ports, examining aspects ranging from jobs and wages to business and tax revenues.
READ MORE
FLETC Offers Training in Maritime Security
August 27, 2007, Maritime Border & Security News -
In 2005, Congress directed the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), to submit a report regarding the feasibility of establishing a maritime and port security training program at the Charleston, S.C., training campus. The goal to establish the FLETC Charleston as the Center of Excellence for Maritime Law Enforcement and Port Security Training was firmly based on its venue and availability of maritime training resources, which include a port, intermodal facilities and piers situated on the Cooper River.
READ MORE
CSI to Reach 58 Ports by October 1, Chertoff Says
August 27, 2007, Maritime Border & Security News -
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff says by Oct. 1, the Container Security Initiative will have expanded the program of overseas screening of U.S.-bound cargo to 58 foreign ports. Those ports combine to handle more than 85 percent of trade entering the United States, he said. In Aug. 16 remarks at the quarterly meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Chertoff said the overseas screenings play an important role in DHS’ layered approach to maritime security.
READ MORE
Michigan's Right to Regulate Ballast Water Treatment Upheld
by MarEx staff, August 27, 2007, Maritime Executive
In a ruling which is guaranteed to give ocean shipping companies heartburn, a federal judge in Michigan has ruled that Michigan’s controversial ballast water treatment law is constitutional. The ruling, which came down from the U.S. District of Michigan, now opens the doors for other states to consider similar measures. Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana legislators have been watching from the sidelines as a lawsuit brought by nine shipping companies and trade associations played out in court last week. The shipping firms had attempted to overturn a Michigan law that requires oceangoing vessels to treat or sanitize their ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species to the Great Lakes.
READ MORE
N.J. Takes Cooperative Approach in Addressing Maritime Security
An exclusive interview with Richard L. Cañas, Director New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness
August 27, 2007, Maritime Border & Security News -
Richard L. Cañas has served since March 2006 as director of the newly established New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Cañas, who began his career as a Salinas, Calif., police officer, served with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from 1972 through 1996. On detachment from the DEA, Cañas served from 1990 to 1994 on the White House’s National Security Council.
READ MORE
Port Authority Conducts
Maritime Security Exercise
August 24, 2007, MarineLink.com
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast sponsored a successful port security exercise today in the Port of Philadelphia to evaluate preparedness, prevention and the ability to respond to a terrorist-related incident. The exercise featured participation from the tri-state (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) port community, including public and government agencies, and private industry. The goal of this exercise was to improve the connectivity of maritime and surface transportation modes and enhance current port stakeholder security plans. Scenarios ranged from how officials and industry react to an explosion on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to additional suspicious, terrorist-related activity around the port.
READ MORE
Record-Breaking Year for Louisiana Exports
August 24, 2007, MarineLink.com
According to the World Trade Club of New Orleans, Louisiana realized more than $13.4 billion in exports during the first six months of 2007, a 20.7 percent increase compared to the same period one year ago - and 2006 set records with exports valued at $23.5 billion for the entire year.
READ MORE
AAPA Hails Additional Port Security Funding Announcement
August 23, 2007, MarEx Newsletter
ALEXANDRIA, VA (August 16, 2007): The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) hailed the announcement today from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it has made available an additional $110 million in fiscal 2007 Port Security Grant funding. The money, to pay for security improvements in and around America's public ports, was part of a compromise Iraqi war appropriations supplemental bill that was signed into law last May.
READ MORE
TDC Security Alert: Suspicious Activity Surrounding Washington State Ferries
23 August 2007, MarEx Newsletter
A TDC security alert is highlighting an FBI request for public help in identifying the two men both "passengers" aboard Washington State ferries on several recent occasions. The men showed a high level of interest in security vulnerabilities of the boats. (This article describes a number of incidents in recent years)
READ MORE
OSHA, ASA Renew Partnership
August 23, 2007
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) headquarters, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Mr. Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., and American Shipbuilding Association (ASA) President, Ms. Cynthia L. Brown, signed an agreement renewing an alliance between OSHA and the American Shipbuilding Association. The Alliance Agreement, in place since 2003, seeks to promote cooperative relationships between management, labor, and OSHA, and the implementation of comprehensive safety and health management systems in the workplace.
READ MORE
DHS Releases Guidance on Grant Programs
August 21, 2007, MarineLink.com
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released application kits and supplemental grant guidance for three grant programs for 2007. The three programs include the Port Security Grant Program, Transit Security Grant Program and Emergency Management Performance Grant Program. The $567 million awarded was already announced for the programs in the regular fiscal year 2007 appropriations. An additional $260 million supplemental increase announced for TSGP, PSGP and EMPGP brings the total to approximately $827 million available for this fiscal year.
READ MORE
DHS adds $110 million for port security
August 20, 2007, Bulk Transporter
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made available an additional $110 million in fiscal 2007 Port Security Grant funding, according to information from the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). The money, to pay for security improvements in and around America's public ports, was part of a compromise Iraqi war appropriations supplemental bill that was signed into law last May.
READ MORE
Collapsed Bridge Closes Upper
Mississippi River
Aug 6-12, 2007 The Waterways Journal
The Coast Guard responded to the Interstate 35 bridge collapse August 1 in Minneapolis, Minn. to help local fire and police departments, emergency medical services and the state emergency operations center with search and rescue operations. … Due to the bridge collapse, the Mississippi River was closed from Mile 848 to 857. Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. j.g. Anastacia Visneski said it’s hard to guess when the river will reopen, because the search for cars in the water is ongoing. The debris and current complicate matters further.
READ MORE
Multi-Agency Cooperation Fuels Bridge Recovery
August 14, 2007, MarineLink.com By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Elizabeth Merriam, Fleet Public Affairs Center Atlantic
As crews move forward in recovery efforts of the I-35 bridge collapse, multiple agencies are working together to make the job move smoothly. “The overall coordination and support we’ve received from local, state and federal authorities have been absolutely tremendous,” Hennepin County Sheriff, Richard W. Stanek said.
READ MORE
Victory ships: John W. Brown to visit Portland Harbor this week
By SETH HARKNESS, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, August 12, 2007
BALTIMORE — The tugboat that guided the John W. Brown away from the pier swung clear and the old ship, now under its own power, gave a few blasts of its brass whistle as it headed out of the harbor. The narrow, high-sided World War II-era transport ship looked like a floating anachronism beside the blocky container ships it passed along Baltimore's industrial waterfront. About 800 passengers were aboard the Brown on this sunny day in late June for one of its infrequent cruises from its home berth. One of only two surviving Liberty Ships, the Brown was also freighted with history. It's a history that reaches from the South Portland waterfront, where hundreds of these ships were built in the early 1940s, to both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II, where the Liberty Ships played a crucial role in the Allied victory. Though much has been written about the ships' role in the war, sailing on the Brown offers another perspective on this era. From the stooped World War II veterans on board to the massive swinging pistons down in the Brown's engine room and a mock attack by Japanese Zeros, this was history with a pulse.
READ MORE
A LEGACY OF SHIPS: Liberty Ship work helped many escape Great Depression
Some former workers say the South Portland shipyard offered the best paychecks they would see for years.
By SETH HARKNESS, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, August 12
It wasn't patriotism alone that drew 30,000 workers to the South Portland waterfront during the wartime shipbuilding boom. Besides producing hundreds of Liberty Ships that sailed across the world's oceans to help win World War II, the massive industrial undertaking also created good-paying jobs at a time when Maine's economy was still mired in the Great Depression. Many veterans of the New England Shipbuilding Corp.'s yards said they realized the Liberty Ships were an important part of the nation's war effort, but their immediate motivation for seeking work in South Portland was financial. Most can recall to the exact penny the hourly wages they earned at the shipyard. "My real reason for being there was the money," said 91-year- old Gordon Windle of Auburn, who left a job at a Lewiston bleachery in 1941 to work at the shipyard. "I went from 43 cents an hour to something like 80. The most I ever made at the shipyard was $1.20, and to me that was like heaven on earth." Many other former shipyard employees, most in their 80s and 90s, recalled the shipyard primarily as a place of economic opportunity, where someone who didn't know bow from stern could immediately find a job and double their former salary. Many people worked six or seven days a week, but former workers said they were happy to do so.
READ MORE
SUEZ gets Massachusetts permits
for offshore LNG
Aug 9, 2007
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - SUEZ LNG NA LLC said on Thursday it has received all necessary permits from Massachusetts to begin construction of the buoy system and pipeline connection for an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal. The Neptune Deepwater Port facility will be located approximately 10 miles off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. This week the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granted the Chapter 91 License for the Neptune terminal.
READ MORE
Delaware River Dredging Project Confirmed
August 08, 2007, MarineLink.com
A development at the Port of Philadelphia moved closer with the appearance of United States Senator Arlen Specter confirming the government's commitment to fund the 45-ft. Delaware River dredging project.
READ MORE
John Doyle Addresses
Waterways Industries Meeting
August 6, 2007, The Waterways Journal
“America’s inland waterways transportation system won’t continue to be the ‘world class’ system it is today unless we continue to take care of it in terms of maintaining it and even more by modernizing it for the future,” said Waterways Council, Inc. Vice President John Doyle during his July 25th remarks to the Waterways Industries Association of Paducah. “That’s the task that all of the members of WCI have taken on,” he told the luncheon audience at Whaler’s Catch.
READ MORE
Schlater to Address Subsea Technology Challenges at OTE
August 6, 2007, Marine Technology Reporter
Donald R Schlater, Senior Advisor BP Castrol, and a founding member and training chairman of SUT, will deliver a presentation on Subsea Technology Challenges at the upcoming OceanTech Expo, scheduled to be held September 5-7, 2007 in Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. Schlater’s talk is part of the OTE’s Industry Outlook Sessions – a series of informative presentations from users of subsea technology, including officials from the government, military and industry – scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2007 Registration to attend OTE is free, with special thanks to Prevco Subsea Housings, which is sponsoring attendee pre-registration thru August 10.
To take advantage, log onto www.oceantechexpo.com/registration
LINK TO MARINE TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Editorial: Katrina Response—Plaudits To The Good Guys
August 6, 2007, The Waterways Journal Editorial
We have not written kindly of governmental failures when it comes to Hurricane Katrina recovery. We make no apologies for that. On the other hand, thousands of volunteers, many heroic, have given time, skill and finances to make life better for victims of that Gulf Coast tragedy. We write, generally, about New Orleans, since that has been the national focus. But Katrina did not restrict her tantrum just to New Orleans. Damage was widespread, and so has been the laudable work of selfless volunteers. Area folks refer to them as “unsung heroes.”
READ MORE
Low Water Plagues Ohio River Operators
August 6 -12, 2007, The Waterways Journal
Barge operators are seeing reduced profits and increased costs as low water conditions prevail along the Cumberland, Tennessee and lower Ohio Rivers. The annual low water summer conditions along the lower Ohio are being exacerbated by reduced flows from the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.
READ MORE
OSHA Releases New Guidance On Traffic Safety In Marine Terminals
July 27, 2007, MarineLink.com
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new guidance document, Traffic Safety in Marine Terminals, to help the maritime industry avoid traffic accidents and prevent or reduce work-related fatalities and injuries.
READ MORE
Coast Guard Releases Guidance On TWIC
July 23 -29, 2007, The Waterways Journal
Virtually all crewmembers of towboats will be required to obtain Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC) by September 25, 2008, or their licenses, merchant mariner documents and STCW papers will become invalid, according to newly released Coast Guard directions.
READ MORE
|
