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Article Excerpt
Abstract
This article examines aspects of short sea shipping on the Great Lakes, focusing on the current Great Lakes domestic cargo-carrying ship fleet. The age, capacity, and speed characteristics of the Great Lakes fleet are reviewed, and their implications on short sea shipping are discussed. We conclude that Great Lakes short sea shipping has it best potential for success in two areas: the bulk commodity market and short-distance Ro/Ro and container service. A case study illustrates some of the operational characteristics of successful short sea shipping, including the existence of a champion; simple, general-purpose loading and unloading; and few involved parties. Comparisons with European short sea vessels and experience are given.
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Short sea shipping refers to "the movement of cargo and passengers by water along coastlines, to and from nearby islands, or within lakes and river systems, but without crossing an ocean" (Materials Management and Distribution 2003). This definition encompasses a large variety of marine transportation activity, including a wide range of vessel types, cargoes, material handling techniques, port infrastructures, policies and regulations, and opinions and perceptions. Clearly, "defining short sea shipping is not an easy task, and often the definition varies from one study to another" (Paixao and Marlow).
Short sea shipping is not a new phenomenon. In recent years, however, as land-based transportation systems have become congested, delays to shippers lengthened, and waterway systems under-utilized, domestic water carriage has experienced a renewed interest in both North America and Europe. Short sea shipping initiatives have been proposed or implemented in several Canadian areas, including the Great Lakes, the Vancouver/lower mainland area of British Columbia (Cambridge Systematics Inc.), and the Canadian Atlantic provinces (MariNova Consulting Ltd. and Brooks 2003, Transport Canada 2005b). In the United States, short sea services have been suggested or established along the Atlantic Coast (Tirschwell et al.); from the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico (Tirschwell et al.); and along the Pacific coast from southern California to British Columbia (Weyerhaeuser Company).
The basic purposes of this article are to review the key characteristics of short sea shipping, examine characteristics of the current Great Lakes domestic cargo-carrying fleet, and discuss how these characteristics will impact the development of short sea shipping on the Great Lakes. The discussion is focused primarily on ships rather than on ports, cargo handling, regulatory policies, or other issues.
This article begins with a review of the potential general benefits of short sea shipping and the prerequisites for its success. An overview of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system follows, leading to an examination of the current Great Lakes domestic cargo-carrying fleet and its characteristics. The article closes with a short case study illustrating some of the operational characteristics of successful short sea shipping, as well as some general conclusions.
BENEFITS AND PREREQUISITES OF SHORT SEA SHIPPING
The potential benefits of short sea shipping can be summarized as follows (Paixao and Marlow):
* Geographical advantages, such as a readily useable waterway system and ability to access existing population centers
* Financial advantages, such as lower transportation rates charged to shippers
* Energy advantages, such as reduced energy consumption by transportation activities
* Environmental advantages, such as fewer vehicle emissions, traffic accidents, and related social costs, and less need to build roads and rail facilities
* Human resource advantages, such as reduced truck driver shortages and shorter operating periods for drivers
* Capacity advantages, such as improved utilization of water systems with considerable room for expansion
* Positive effects in ancillary activities, such as increased investment and employment in shipbuilding, intermodal transportation services, etc.
To succeed, a short sea service must possess two major characteristics: (1) it must provide a time/cost tradeoff that is competitive with that of other modes (particularly trucking); and (2) it must be reliable and as seamless as possible. Even if these objectives can be achieved, a major hurdle is the perception of many shippers and freight forwarders that water transportation is slow and old-fashioned. Changing these opinions will require partnerships between participants and modes, more aggressive marketing, and an entrepreneurial attitude by short sea operators (Paixao and Marlow).
The North American auto manufacturing industry provides an illustration of shipper reluctance to ship via water. A study of the possibility of moving auto parts through the Port of Windsor concluded that the close proximity of suppliers and customers was the major reason that these manufacturers did not use water transportation (Friesen et al. 2005). When suppliers and customers were located far enough apart to consider shipping by water, the costs associated with setting up new logistics channels, increased time of delivery, and lack of infrastructure were sufficient to discourage manufacturers from further consideration of this mode. Some shippers will not even consider the possibility of using short sea shipping. A feasibility study of a ferry link between Cleveland and Port Stanley (Ontario) reported that "neither the automobile companies nor their logistics providers were willing to return the questionnaires despite repeated phone calls" (TranSystems).
Hurdles that short sea shipping must overcome if it is to win acceptance from shippers include a lack of supply chain orientation by carriers, doubts about schedule reliability, excessive government regulation and bureaucracy, high fees for ports and land-based services, and poor integration with other transportation modes (see, e.g., DiSanza, Hackett, Tirschwell et al.). In Europe, for example, short sea shipping's disadvantages "lie in the areas of port operations, corporate culture and structure, innovation, information technology/ information systems, marketing, and customer service approaches" (Paixao and Marlow).
Few of the problems encountered in European short sea shipping pertain to the ships themselves. Nevertheless, concerns have been voiced about vessel age, speed, and capacity in both European and Great Lakes short sea shipping (e.g., Schinas and Psaraftis, Paixao and Marlow, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation 2005b). Later sections of this article discuss characteristics of Great Lakes ships. We first give a brief description of the Great Lakes waterway system and an overview of the domestic cargo-carrying fleet.
THE GREAT LAKES WATERWAY
The Great Lakes waterway stretches 2,342 statute miles (3,770 kilometers) from Anticosti Island and the Atlantic seaboard to Duluth, Minnesota, and the most westerly tip of Lake Superior. As well as the five Great Lakes, the system includes the St. Lawrence Seaway (191 miles from Montreal to Lake Ontario), the Well-and Canal (27 miles between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie), the Detroit River--Lake St. Clair--St. Clair River section (90 miles between Lake Erie and Lake Huron), and the Soo Locks channel (62 miles between Lake Huron and Lake Superior). Figure 1 provides a map of the system.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
During 2004, 42.8 long tons (43.5 million tonnes) of cargo moved on the Great Lakes. This traffic volume constituted an increase of about 6.5 percent over 2003, the first annual improvement since 1998 (when total tonnage was 50.3 million long tons [51.1 million tones]). (2) One reason for this increase was 2004's 281-day shipping season (from March 25 to December 30), the system's longest season ever (St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation 2005a).
About 90 percent of Great Lakes tonnage moved consists of bulk commodities; the major ones in 2004 were iron ore (24 percent) and grain (21 percent) (St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation 2005a). This contrasts with European shipping, where the most common short sea cargo is liquid bulk (Amerini). Commodities that currently move, or have good potential to be moved, by short sea ships on the Great Lakes include aluminum, aggregates, lumber and wood derivatives, metal...
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