U.S., Canadian officials call for doubling of cargo shipments on Great Lakes

A recent report authored by eight U.S. governors and two Canadian premiers sees untapped potential for moving container and roll-on/roll-off cargo in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.    Governors from eight states and the premiers of two Canadian provinces are calling for a doubling of maritime trade on the Great Lakes.
   The Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers on Wednesday released the final version of a maritime strategy report that calls for better use of the Great Lakes to enhance economic growth and create jobs, as well as reduce the environmental impact of the region’s transportation network.
   The strategy calls for increasing efficiency and reducing costs for shipping on the Great Lakes, creating new markets, and growing economic activity around what it calls the “maritime transportation system” (MTS).
   “Maritime transportation is growing rapidly, shaped by continuously expanding international trade and increased efficiency in global shipping,” according to the report. “Drivers include the continuous innovations seen in the expansion of the Panama and Suez Canals, increases in the size and efficiency of container transport, expanded coastal ports and major investment in ports and maritime infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region, across Europe and throughout Asia and other parts of the world.
   “The MTS must keep pace with this trend and become more efficient and effective in order to better attract traffic and stay globally competitive.”
    Challenges faced by the region include ice cover on the lakes, which requires shippers to find alternative methods of transportation during the winter, as well as physical features that limit vessel sizes.
   Two opportunities highlighted by the report are the potential to increase short sea shipping and to move containers on the Great Lakes.
   “Roll on-roll off (RORO) vessels that seamlessly transport trucks over short distances by ship are successfully being used in many areas of the world and represent a particularly attractive option to grow short sea shipping while reducing freight’s environmental footprint,” the report noted.
   “Short sea shipping is disadvantaged in the US where it is subject to the Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT), which is not imposed on shipments made via truck, rail or other modes. Trade policies and customs regulations also act as deterrents. Moreover, maritime transportation is not included in all State or local transportation plans.”
   The report called on state and provincial transportation agencies to collaboratively develop a regional short sea shipping plan and said the U.S. federal government should exempt non-bulk cargo moving between port on the lakes from the Harbor Maintenance Tax.
   “This tax is only assessed on cargo if it moves by ship and thus serves as a gross disincentive to move freight by water. Removing this disincentive would enable a fairer and more rational consideration of economic and environmental costs when choosing among transportation options,” it said.
   The report also notes that “containerized shipping has been largely absent from the Great Lakes as container movements are typically concentrated at coastal ports that can accommodate increasingly large container ships on a year-round basis. The only scheduled service for containerized freight currently operating from a Great Lakes port is the Cleveland-Europe Express.”
   “Containerized shipping represents a huge economic opportunity for the region given the logistics activities that often grow around ports handling containers,” the conference contends. “Beyond this, containerized shipping in the MTS could also alleviate trucking congestion in certain areas such as around Chicago. Limitations on containerized shipping in the winter upstream from Montréal represent a clear challenge during the winter season.”