6th Annual Marine Highways Conference
The 6th Annual North America's Marine Highways Conference, produced by the Journal of Commerce Conferences, will take place April 1 and 2 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, Jacksonville, Florida. The theme "Are We There Yet?" refers to the status of North American marine highways as a seemingly endless construction zone. Last December, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told The Journal of Commerce that he wanted to steer $30m of President-elect Obama's economic recovery package to short sea loan guarantees for vessels and shore facilities. The money is part of an overall $85b investment in transportation infrastructure now being considered by Congress.
Container on Barge Service Launched
The Port of Greater Baton Rouge announced a new weekly short-sea shipping service for containers via barge to the Port of New Orleans. This regular service is scheduled weekly to facilitate demand from local industry. Osprey Line operates the container terminal at the Baton Rouge port’s Inland Rivers Marine Terminal and launched the first weekly shipment Friday, January 9, 2004 to the Napoleon Street Wharf Container Terminal in New Orleans. Osprey Line President Rick Couch said, “With this weekly container-on-barge shipping schedule, local companies who import and export products to and from the Port of New Orleans can take advantage of lower transportation costs. Most products can be moved by container-on-barge.
