Office of Naval Research - National Transportation Library

Section 1.0 Short Sea Shipping in the U.S.: Infrastructureand Cargo Characteristics1.1 Concepts and DefinitionsThe term short sea shipping (SSS), commonly defined as “commercial waterbornetransportation that does not transit an ocean,” 1 refers to waterborne transportation ofcommercial freight between domestic ports using inland and intracoastal waterways. Today,a new term, Marine Highways, has been introduced to refer to this mode of transport.SSS is not a new mode of transporting goods. The practice dates back to early maritimecommercial practices when merchant vessels were small in cargo capacity and sailed withinsight of the coastline, moving cargo from one seaport to another. The mariners faced naturalhazards and threats to vessel safety, and had to follow sailing schedules dictated by thecondition of wind and tides. 2In the U.S. the historical context for SSS has been framed around the concept of maritimelaws and referred to by names such as “coastal trade,” “cabotage shipping,” “inlandshipping”, and “Jones Act service.” In fact, “cabotage shipping” has historically been usedinterchangeably with “coastal shipping” and in many applications the two terms define theSSS concept.Because of this historical context, two distinct definitions of the scope of SSS currently existin the U.S.: one that limits the scope to coastal shipping, and a broader one encompassing theentire scope of the coastal and inland waterways.The narrow perspective on the size of the SSS market limits the market only to the U.S.coastal traffic. According to this perspective, the distinction between coastal andriverine/brown-water shipping is crucial as far as the intent of the Jones Act is concerned. Tobe true to the spirit of the Jones Act, the advocates of this perspective maintain, only coastalshipping has utility for military power projection; riverine vessels have limited militaryutility because shallow water barges are incapable of transporting cargo to the combat theaterabroad. Because this limitation would thwart the rationale offered for the legislativeprotection of the Jones Act, the proponents of this school of thought exclude not only riverinebarges that are incapable of sailing coastal routes, they also exclude domestic cargo routesfor which no rail or highway alternative exists and can only move by sea (e.g., Alaska orHawai’i). 3 Relying on this premise, several recent studies conducted on the feasibility ofexpanded SSS service in the U.S. have excluded shallow-, inland-, and brown-wateroperations that rely on tug-barge operations.1 MARAD, http://www.marad.dot.gov/marinehighways2 Gary A. Lombardo, “Short Sea Shipping: Practices, Opportunities and Challenges,” May 2004.3 This perspective is promoted by the researchers at the Institute of Global Maritime Studies (IGMS), inAmerica’s Deep Blue Highway: How Coastal Shipping Could Reduce Traffic Congestion, Lower Pollution, andBolster National Security, September 2008.ONR SSS Final Report 7