The development of short sea shipping in the United States : a dynamic alternative

Current projections show that U.S. international trade is expected to reach nearly two billion tons by 2020, approximately double today's level. With such a large forecasted growth in trade coming through the United States and growing problems associated with highway congestion, air pollution, and national security, building short sea shipping networks will be difficult, but possible, and potentially of great benefit to the nation. By bringing together shipping providers, customers, and with support from the federal government, short sea shipping can become a reality. This paper outlines the need for a change in our maritime transportation system. It takes a look at the current uses of short sea shipping in the United States as well as the system used in Europe. The technology associated with this concept is described and high-speed vessel design is investigated. Issues relating to the integration of short sea shipping are brought to light, including customer requirements, capital financing, and government policy. A computer-based simulation model calculates a total cost analysis for two modes of transporting goods, trucking and short sea shipping. The model is applied to a group of products of different size, weight, and value.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Ocean Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Connor, Peter H. (Peter Harold)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hauke L. Kite-Powell.

• Ocean Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33427

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33427