MarAd official: Short sea-shipping draws interest as West coast option

MarAd official: Short sea-shipping draws interest as West coast option    Short-sea shipping could soon be an option for shippers at smaller, underdeveloped West Coast ports, especially as the cost of moving goods landside increase, Lyn McLelland, Northwest states representative for the U.S. Maritime Administration, said in a recent e-mail update to Southern California maritime industry stakeholders.
   'It seems to me that we should learn lessons from the Europeans about the need to base freight mobility funding on a cost/benefit analysis basis rather than a specific mode. The EU collects transportation funds from marine and vehicle fuel, road, and other taxes and applies the funds to transportation solutions that create the greatest public benefit at the lowest cost,' McLelland said. She noted the European Union has funded several start-up short-sea projects in the last few years.
   Short-sea shipping, at least in the Pacific Northwest, will become an increasingly viable option 'as the cost of surface transportation escalates. Between the shortage of drivers on the West Coast and the degrading of service on the railroads, shippers are looking more at the maritime option,' McLelland said.
   She said International Longshore and Warehouse Union members have talked about short-sea shipping increasing services through 'underdeveloped' ports.
   'I hope that stevedoring labor and management will find some creative ways of stimulating shipping through underdeveloped ports, using cost containment. I also hope that vessel, terminal, and port operators can find less expensive ways of doing business, to stimulate,' short-sea shipping, she said. 'The pressure to relieve congestion in marine container yards, at the yard gate, and on surface streets in the port areas is also driving forward the (short-sea) conversation because it can respond to all of these needs.'
   McLelland's e-mail was distributed Tuesday by Marine Exchange of Southern California Executive Director Manny Aschemeyer