Transportation Challenges News

This is the dawning of the age of AI and Big Data, huge agglomerations of new and transformative energy; almost self-generating, always strengthening and pulling at the reins, seeking to break free and run, a prospect both exciting and terrifying. That image can imply a human is holding the reins. How quaint: these days, AI itself may be holding the reins.In a review of innovation in 2023 – across any industrial or economic sector, not just maritime – AI looms large, a game-changer equivalent to IBM’s programming advances in the 1940s.

The 2023 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS) will be held Nov. 14-16, 2023, as an in-person event, hosted by Maritime College, State University of New York (SUNY) at the Maritime Academic Center. The theme of the 14th annual event is “Managing Impacts of Supply Chain Disruptors, Renewable Energy, Emerging Technology on the Maritime Transportation System (MTS)” with a focus on offshore infrastructure risk and disruptors. Founded in 1874, Maritime College is the oldest maritime college in the United States, providing mariner training for 150 years.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Thursday announced the membership of its newly formed National Shipper Advisory Committee.The committee is comprised of 24 members, evenly divided between those who export cargo from and those who import cargo to the United States, that will advise the commission on policies relating to the competitiveness, reliability, integrity and fairness of the international ocean freight delivery system.“The current freight transportation challenges…

The State University of New York Maritime College, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard, National Academy of Sciences, academic institutions, industry partners, and federal, state and local agencies, will host the 10th Annual Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS 2019) Nov. 13-15, 2019, at New York Maritime College located in the Bronx, New York.MRS 2019 will bring together academics, government and commercial entities to discuss the threats, challenges and risks associated with the Marine Transportation System with a focus on current and future marine transportation challenges and threats.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority received federal funding for projects that will improve the flow of goods to and from the Port of Vancouver. Through the collaborative efforts of the port authority, Transport Canada, B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, TransLink and the Greater Vancouver Gateway Council, an infrastructure program called the Greater Vancouver Gateway 2030 strategy was created to ensure the roads and railways that lead to the Port of Vancouver are ready to manage Canada’s growing trade. After extensive study, nearly 40 priority infrastructure projects were identified for the Lower Mainland region.

A recent dry dock rehab project in Chicago provides new options and money saving opportunities for inland and Great Lakes stakeholders alike.From software to steel plating, Indiana-based TPG Marine Enterprises provides a range of services in the Great Lakes and inland waterways markets. River based tug and barge services are based in Jeffersonville and Mt. Vernon, IN, on the Ohio River, as well as on Kentucky’s Green River. The company also owns TPG Chicago Dry Dock, located on the Calumet River.

In celebration of Earth Day 2016, The American Waterways Operators (AWO) and Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) released a fact sheet highlighting the many environmental and energy efficiency benefits of our nation’s waterways. Among them, Did You Know... Barge transportation of commodities on our nation’s waterways is the greenest way to move bulk freight. In 2014, 604 million tons of cargo valued at $232 billion moved on the inland waterways system with the lowest environmental impact among surface transportation modes.

The global breakbulk and heavy-lift markets have had to navigate choppy waters in recent years. Not necessarily due to a shortage of freight, but as a consequence of unsustainably low freight rates. The global economic recovery since 2009 has been slow, and competition for the multipurpose sector has intensified due to bulkers, container lines and RoRo’s making forays into the breakbulk and heavylift market, as they look to diversify their business and make up for the lack of demand in their respective core markets.

Like most of our Nation’s major urban areas, New York City is experiencing growing pains. The Big Apple’s rising population means surging needs for freight and services, which have made congestion a common reality for the city’s more than 10 million daily commuters. However, New York has long had a transportation ace in the hole – its geography and access to water. New York City is positioned on a series of islands right in the middle of New York Harbor, one of the world’s largest natural harbors.

Organizers of Jacksonville Port Authority's (JAXPORT) biennial 'Logistics & Intermodal Conference' have released the list of panel topics for discussion at the upcoming 2015 conference. The overall theme for 2015 is "Challenges Facing Shippers in South Atlantic Ports,” and the conference will feature five panel discussions sharing insights, solutions and successes. Panelists will be announced soon and will include senior executives from major ocean carriers, railroads, shippers and service providers. JAXPORT’s conference is designed for senior level executives in logistics and transportation, offering a unique opportunity to network with industry leaders and hear speakers from around the country discussing topics of interest to decision makers.

Transportation plays a crucial role in the soybean supply chain. With access to multiple transportation modes, Illinois soybean farmers enjoy significant advantages for reaching domestic and global markets. But aging transportation infrastructure can increase costs for Illinois farmers. Working with business, government and industry leaders, the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) is addressing current infrastructure challenges and finding solutions to ensure Illinois soybean farmers have access to the resources they need to get crops to market.

Port and Community officials join rail partners Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) and Union Pacific (UP) to celebrate two milestones. The Port of Hueneme was honored recently by the Railway Industrial Clearance Association (RICA) as 2012’s Most Improved Port. Founded in 1969, the Railway Industrial Clearance Association is dedicated to serving the heavy and dimensional transportation industry, cargos with large dimensions, excess weight or center of gravity or other unusual issues. With over 400 members the association seeks opportunities to solve transportation challenges that lead to improved cooperation between shippers, receivers and railroads to implement common solutions to intermodal problems.

To understand how ABS and DNV participate in Brazil’s complex and challenging Maritime and O&G industries, MR spoke to ABS’s João Carlos Ferreira , DNV’s Tommy Bjørnsen and their colleagues in Rio de Janeiro. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is a non-profit classification society founded in 1862. ABS has been present in Brazil for more than 40 years, with more than 200 employees distributed between six offices in Brazil. “We have been providing classification services to the offshore industry longer than any other class society, and we are the current market leader in worldwide MODU classification and also market leaders in floating production units (FPI)…

Crowley's Ocean Rangers Have Protected Alaska's Environment Since 2008. The State of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) has announced that it has awarded a contract to Crowley Maritime Corporation to continue administering the State of Alaska's Ocean Ranger Program, effective November 2011. The contract directs Crowley to recruit, hire, train and organize the logistics of placing Ocean Rangers on board cruise ships each season to act as independent observers and to assure compliance with federal and state environmental health, sanitation and safety requirements.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $7m is being awarded to the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the Virginia Port Authority and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority to support the transportation of marine cargo between U.S. ports. The announcement comes just five weeks after unveiling the America's Marine Highway program, a new initiative to move more cargo on U.S. waterways. The money will help expand an existing marine highway operation in the Gulf of Mexico between Texas and Florida and one on the East Coast between Richmond and Hampton Roads in Virginia. The money will also help start an entirely new all-water service on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway between Itawamba, Mississippi and the Port of Mobile, Alabama.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) announced the first of two Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program solicitations for 2008, inviting small businesses to submit innovative research proposals that address high priority national transportation goals. RITA has set a new strategic direction for the program this year, with a heightened emphasis on proposals that would provide cost-effective, multi-modal solutions to the nation’s most pressing transportation challenges in areas such as bridge condition monitoring technology and data collection, hazardous materials tracking and incident response, adaptive traffic signal control, and rail, motorcycle and pedestrian safety research.

Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. today provided his comments and insight on the current situation and how it has impacted the company's operations. "We are devastated by the losses that so many of our fellow Americans have suffered," Fain said. "While it is hard to focus on business as usual, we know that it is important to do so, and we are determined to do just that. "I know the business community would like to know what these events mean to our company. While it is obvious that the world is a very different place than it was a week ago, it's hard for us to fully assess what this means to our company. Nevertheless, we can provide some preliminary information that we hope is helpful.