Transportation Alternatives News

Containerships owner/operator Seaspan Corporation signaled its entry into the car carrier segment in confirming a deal to order a series of new pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) in partnership with Hyundai Glovis (Glovis).The 10,800 CEU are the largest PCTCs under development to date. They will be dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as ammonia-and methanol-ready.Seaspan said it negotiated the purchase from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a China State Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded nearly $39 million in grants to 12 marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help expand marine highway services on the United States’ navigable waterways to reduce congestion, alleviate supply chain bottlenecks, and move goods more quickly from ships to shelves.“At a time of record demand for goods, it’s more important than ever to…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along our navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $9.5 million in grants to eight marine highways projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program. The funding supports the enhancement of navigable waterways and expands existing waterborne freight services in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and American Samoa.“This Federal assistance will provide additional options to reduce congestion on the roads and help the surrounding local communities’ and the regions’ economic recovery…

Hawaii Congressman Ed Case has introduced three bills in Congress to reform Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (commonly referred to as the Jones Act), which he states “artificially inflates the cost of shipping goods to Hawaii”.Case’s three measures and their proposed amendments to the Jones Act are:the Noncontiguous Shipping Relief Act, which exempts all noncontiguous U.S. locations, including Hawaii, from the Jones Act;the Noncontiguous Shipping Reasonable Rate Act, which benchmarks…

Are paradigms shifting on the increased role of inland waterways with respect to short sea shipping and the Nation’s marine transportation system? Investigation and implementation of new commerce shipping avenues are becoming more common along the Eastern seaboard of the United States with each new announcement of a Port Authority supporting the development of shipping routes for container on barge services.In the past few weeks, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) furthered their quest to develop a marine highway to support the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

The Port of Everett has achieved another vital step in reducing congestion on the I-5 corridor while moving more freight in the region. The Port was notified this month that it received designation by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as a Federal Maritime Administration Marine Highway Project for the Puget Sound Container on Barge Service under the America’s Marine Highway Program.The Port is one of 25 marine highway projects in the nation, and the only marine project designation on the West Coast.

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

Global non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) and ocean freight consolidator CaroTrans announced a new weekly less than container load (LCL) service from Atlanta to major markets in Japan including: Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya and Osaka. This service eliminates transshipment and double handling in Los Angeles and Busan. Freight moves from Atlanta to Tokyo in 29 days, Yokohama in 30 days, and Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe in 33 days. In Japan, CaroTrans’ partner of 16 years, Seino Logix, provides secure unpack and expedited distribution throughout Japan. Overall, the CaroTrans - Seino Logix service portfolio is comprised of six export services – Chicago, Charleston, New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to Japan, and now Atlanta.

Until January of this year, Sean Connaughton oversaw seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. Connaughton is probably better known to MarineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional programs for the marine transportation industry. This included advising and assisting the Secretary of Transportation on commercial maritime matters…

The next MTS Houston Section luncheon will be held on April 28, 2011 and will feature a presentation by Carlos Ferraz Mastrangelo with Petrobras America. Mr. Mastrangelo will be discussing Petrobras’s decision to use a shuttle-tanker for its oil export system at the Cascade and Chinook developments. While the combination of shuttle-tanker and FPSO is common in the North Sea, Brazil and other parts of the world, it is a first in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Despite the impressive pipeline infrastructure currently available in the U.S. Gulf, none of it reaches as far as the location of the Cascade and Chinook fields, at 160 miles south of the Louisiana coast, in the deep waters of the Walker Ridge quadrant.

The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that the Government of Canada will invest $2.5m in the Prince Rupert Port Authority’s (PRPA’s) Fairview Terminal project to provide shore power capacity to container ships through an electric cable management system. Prince Rupert will be the first Canadian port to offer shore power for container ships. “This project will promote greener freight transportation alternatives for Canadians and significantly improve local air quality,” said Minister Day. The project is expected to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions by up to 4…

SeaKits, the developer and provider of the Marine Maintenance System (MMS), has signed an agreement with Boston’s Best Cruises to provide the company’s two workboat fleets with their turnkey MMS Fleet Solutions. SeaKits and Boston’s Best Cruises met at the Passenger Vessel Association meeting in February and began discussions of implementing Fleet Solutions into their Boston and Ft. Lauderdale based fleets. The Boston fleet’s maintenance program will begin operations with MMS by the end of April.

"The member companies of the Dredging Contractors of America (DCA) are pleased by the inclusion of $440 million of critically needed dredging projects in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stimulus list," said Dan McDougal, President of DCA. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "will provide a shot in the arm to the maritime and boating industries, as well as supply hundreds of family wage jobs for employees of the nations dredging and marine construction companies," he said. "Many of the stimulus projects are intended to restore poorly maintained projects to full project dimensions. Adding the stimulus projects to the normal workload and the continued Gulf Recovery effort will present a challenge to the Corps and its partners in the dredging industry.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration has named John Hummer to head its new Northern California Gateway Office in San Francisco. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Hummer served as the State of California’s deputy secretary for goods movement in the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency. The Maritime Administration has established nine gateway offices at the Nation’s largest ports to ensure locally-based teams of intermodal maritime transportation experts will work with headquarters staff, State and local authorities, and a broad range of port, shipper, and carrier stakeholders on projects. Nationwide, each of the gateway offices develop local initiatives to address transportation congestion relief…

On Dec. 19, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which contains provisions establishing a formal marine highway program within the federal government. Under the new law, marine highway or "short sea" transportation refers to the carriage by vessel of cargo in containers, loaded on the vessel by cranes or by means of wheeled technology. Specifically, the new law requires the establishment of a program and the designation of transportation projects to mitigate landside congestion. The program will encourage the development and expansion of vessels, shippers, port and landside infrastructure, and marine transportation strategies by state and local governments.

Hawaii Superferry signed a historic agreement with Austal USA that proposes bringing the world’s newest passenger-vehicle catamarans to Hawaiian waters for the development of a commercial high-speed interisland ferry service in Hawaii. Hawaii Superferry plans to use Austal USA-built, high-speed, roll-on/roll-off vessels to create “Hawaii’s Interisland Highway,” with state-of-the-art Austal USA catamarans carrying passengers, vehicles and freight between Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island, beginning in 2006. Under the agreement, Hawaii Superferry plans to purchase two 340-foot catamaran ferry vessels from Mobile, AL-based Austal USA for delivery during 2006-2008 under an exclusive, strategic relationship.

Local and state dignitaries convened on the Monmouth County waterfront to take part in the christening of the Gladding-Hearn built M/V Seastreak New Jersey, a 141-ft. (42.9-m), 400 passenger high speed catamaran which will provide daily commuter service from Atlantic Highlands, and Highlands, N.J., to Pier 11 (Wall Street) and East 34th Street in Manhattan. According to Geoffrey Ede of SeaStreak America, Inc., Seastreak New Jersey and its sister ship Seastreak New York are the fastest diesel powered ferries in the New York Harbor today with service speeds of approximately 45 mph. Our outstanding commuter service into New York will…

On August 13-14, the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC) is scheduled to consider an industry proposal to upgrade the nation's marine infrastructure. Commending the Council's work, Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Most trade analysts agree that international trade will at least double by the year 2020 triggering surface transportation gridlock. As a result, the Council has focused on the use of water transportation and the role our waterway system can play in the solution to our nation's highway and rail congestion. During a meeting, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, CA, the…

Throughout the history of shipbuilding, the key challenge too often has been how to build the right ship around a given propulsion system, rather than creating tailored propulsion system for the ship. That was true when the best propulsion "engines" available were sails, and it is also true for today's diesel, gas turbine and electric hybrid systems as well. The ideal, of course, is to allocate cargo space, cabin space, the shape of propulsion units, and even the shape of the ship's itineraries around the needs of the marketplace rather than around the limitations imposed by the ship's propulsion system. Factors that remain in the path of that ideal include the underlying efficiency across a broad operational range with which chemical energy is turned into mechanical energy…