Columbia Coastal Transport

There is much discussion about short-sea shipping as a viable, environmentally smart intermodal alternative, yet we do not see our segment growing stronger until companies — carriers, shippers and consignees — have some kind of financial incentive or tax credit to make them want to change the way they do business. Studies have shown that all-water modes of inland and coastal freight movement help reduce emissions, lessen port and highway congestion, and provide a reliable method of getting freight port-to-port to/from inland points. In October, the U.S.-based Institute for Global Maritime Studies issued one such report entitled “How Coastal Shipping Could Reduce Traffic Congestion, Lower Pollution, and Bolster National Security.” “Our country’s current freight transportation system, previously reliant on cheap fuel and uncongested interstate highway and freight rail networks, must adapt to a new operating environment with increasing traffic congestion and fluctuating fuel prices,” the report states, adding that, “in many cases, the greenest and cheapest way to ship goods is by sea, not by land.” The report goes on to say that short-sea shipping could help the U.S. achieve its future greenhouse gas emission target as well. “From a greenhouse gas emissions perspective, many U.S. coastal shipping operations offer substantial savings,” the report concludes. Yet despite these glowing endorsements, only 2 percent of all U.S. freight moves via our country’s extensive coastal and inland waterways network, an untapped market when you consider that 44 percent of Europe’s freight moves via all-water services and, in China, the number is even greater — 61 percent of China’s freight moves by water modes. So the market is surely there, but serious incentives to shift freight to this mode are not. Without positive inducements to utilize all-water alternatives, short-sea shipping is unlikely to achieve its potential as a key contributor to the U.S. intermodal shipping landscape. Until then, the greenest alternative available for coastal and inland freight movement will remain a topic of interest, not a real solution for the environmental, port congestion and infrastructure challenges we face today.