Office of Naval Research - National Transportation Library

Figure 18 – Envisioned West Coast SSS Feeder Service CorridorSource: Le-Griffin and Moore, USC, February, 2006.To summarize, Section 2-1 described the existing SSS markets, as identified by MARAD infive key corridors served by about 16 carriers. Section 2-2 identified 3 prototype SSSmarkets: Inland Tug-Barge markets, Coastal/Great Lakes RoRo and Fast Ferry markets, andthe Coastal Feeder Network, showing that:• The traditional tug-barge service and new ATBs serve an important niche market for lowmargin,low priority shipments, and that they should remain a core market for SSSservice;• The Coastal and Great Lakes services need to be augmented by the service of a morerobust self-propelled fleet of vessels for RoRo, LoLo, and break-bulk service; thissegment has not been able to be sustained given the high costs of stevedoring services,short shipment distances that make competition with the trucks more difficult, andabsence of mass cargo volumes;• The Coastal container feeder markets have yet to be developed; they offer the greatestpotential for incremental improvements in serving congested and capacity constrainedcoastal corridors for delivery of import containers.To assess the extent to which SSS services in these markets are potentially sustainable, and toidentify the factors that would make SSS a viable alternative for moving freight, accuratecost and operational data are needed. Many of the companies that in the past have beenactive are no longer in business, partly because of the current economic downturn.Operational data are currently lacking, partly because of the privately- held nature of thebusinesses. Sections 3 through 5 will attempt to provide a better understanding of theeconomic performance of these SSS operations.ONR SSS Final Report 31