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⌂ Home / Shipping News / International Shipping News / America’s Forgotten Marine Highway Network That Could Green Global Freight Transport
America’s Forgotten Marine Highway Network That Could Green Global Freight Transport in International Shipping News 23/11/2020
U.S. freight transport is forecast to grow by 40% over the next two
decades. The rapid growth of e-commerce, accelerated by more �rst
time users during the coronavirus pandemic, could push this demand
even further.
Yet, 70% of all cargo in the U.S. is transported via road.
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The Biden-Harris team have a long tasklist ahead of them when they take the reigns in January.
Having a robust plan for how the U.S. will meet this 40% forecast increase in freight while
addressing climate commitments set in the Paris Agreement will be a critical priority.
It requires out of the box thinking, and a long forgotten transport network could prove a vital
part of the solution.
The Marine Highway Network
In 2007, toward the tail end of George W. Bush’s Presidential Term, the U.S. Congress amended
the Clean Energy Act (also known as the Energy Independence and Security Act), to provide for
an alternative to land transport and reduce dependency on oil.
This created the U.S. Marine Highway Network.
It was designed to utilize waterways and canals across the U.S., as a way to shift freight from
road onto waterways. Water transport would reduce emissions by eight times that of trucks
and release half the emissions compared to rail freight.
At the time, these e�ciency estimates were based on using existing ship energy sources.
Transforming these Marine Highways into fully electric or renewable powered-vessels would
radically transform these long forgotten transport networks.
Going further and integrating domestic waterways within the U.S. with international maritime
trade routes could create green regional trade corridors with major trading nations. If these are
built on low-carbon infrastructure and shipping, they could open up a new Green Maritime
Super-Highways that could rival China’s Belt and Road initiative for sustainability in marine
infrastructure.
With 90% of global trade being transported via the oceans, and shipping being the sixth
highest carbon dioxide emitter (three times greater than France), the potential impact on
meeting climate targets will be signi�cant.
Depending on which fuel source is used (e.g., wind, solar, green hydrogen or biofuels), this
could open up new energy possibilities in the heartland of the United States. Some
environmentalists have expressed concerns about another source of fuel, LNG, due to harmful
methane emissions at the production stage.
The U.S. Strategic Sealift
The other reason the Marine Highway program was so attractive at the time to develop U.S.
waterways, infrastructure, crew and vessels, was for military purposes.
The coronavirus has shown the world how vulnerable many countries were on critical
infrastructure and transportation networks. One of the concerns of the U.S. military has been
the U.S. Strategic Sealift.
This is the civilian merchant marine that the U.S. would be dependent on to support any large
scale seaborne operation (such as transportation of food or humanitarian equipment).
One of the most famous examples of the importance of this capability comes from the
Strategic Airlift of Berlin in the midst of the Cold War in 1948. The divided city in East Germany
was shut o� by the USSR, forcing American, British and French cargo planes to �y in supplies
for over a year to the besieged city, at very short notice. These 300,000 �ights over the course
of the year, showed the strategic importance of having a high volume strategic freight capacity
in case of an emergency. Berlin was a land-locked city, and there may be other instances
where a similar sealift may be needed.
Since the end of the the Second World War, there has been a decline in U.S. owned and
crewed vessels, relative to other countries. Today, the world’s largest �eets are in China, Japan,
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South Korea, Europe, with crews predominantly from the Philippines and India.
The U.S. military viewed the Marine Highway as an opportunity not just to revitalize inland
transport, but also build a domestic workforce and shipping capability that could be available
for the U.S. Strategic Sealift, if ever the need arose.
Green technologies
The U.S. maritime industry has long been a neglected sector and has not received as much
attention as transformation in road transport (e.g., electric and autonomous trucking) and air
transport (e.g., the development of electric and autonomous cargo drones).
The electric and autonomous shipping revolution is being driven primarily by China and
Scandinavian countries.
With the U.S., having some of the largest investments in battery technologies and alternative
fuels, there is an opportunity to build a Marine Highway as a Green Marine Highway, using the
power of breakthrough technologies from hubs like Silicon Valley, Massachusetts and a range
of other emerging maritime innovation centers.
This requires a new set of charging infrastructure and a sensor networks along these
waterways, so vessels can safely and e�ciently navigate through the thousands of miles of
canals, waterways and coastal routes.
At present, the marine highways program is designed around a North-South axis for cargo
transport. A smart, integrated national freight network could �nd ways for goods to be
transported across the country using rail and other low carbon transport modes, and would
revitalize the heartland of the U.S. with a range of green maritime transportation hubs.
A package of incentives could encourage e-commerce �rms, logistics companies and freight
forwarders to start using the marine highway for non-urgent transportation of goods and raw
materials.
A clear target would need to be set (for example, at least a third of all internal cargo freight by
2040 should be transported via waterways). It would take strong leadership to deliver on this
vision, including integrating Federal support with each State and city along a new Green
Marine Highway network, and opening up opportunities to a range of smaller companies to
also help drive innovation.
Companies like Harbor Harvest could provide an interesting model for what is possible in the
United States. The Connecticut-based company have been attempting to transport local food
produce in electric vessels along Connecticut and New York waterways. They are building
unique partnerships with farmers, food processors and consumers, to transport agricultural
produce on U.S.-built low carbon hybrid vessels that reduce road congestion as well as carbon
emissions.
MARAD Administrator
The key role to deliver on a Green Marine Highway program would be identifying and
nominating the right transformational leader for MARAD, the Marine Administration that sits
within the Department of Transportation.
Captain John Konrad, founder of gCaptain, explains the qualities that should be sought after for
the new MARAD Administrator.
“For too many Presidential teams, MARAD was an afterthought. There were even Presidents
who waited years before making a MARAD Administrator appointment.
The MARAD Administrator is a critical role, and holds the rank of a Four Star Admiral.
With all the advances in ocean technologies happening around the world, the next decade will
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be one of the most exciting for the maritime sector.
Unfortunately the United States is falling behind other countries. What it would take is real
leadership to turn this situation around. The MARAD Administrator needs to be someone who
has experience with transformational change, knows the stakeholders in the maritime industry,
understands new technologies, and is willing to bring a can-do attitude to the role. They will
also need the full support of the Presidential team and Congress to be empowered to lead
such a transformation of U.S. civilian maritime capabilities.”
U.S. Maritime Leaders
When pushed on what sort of leaders he had in mind, Captain Konrad responded, “We have
plenty of leaders quali�ed in the U.S. to take the role or even provide strong guidance on the
transformation needed.
We have also never had a female or minority head of MARAD. How incredible would it be to
have an administrator passionate about sustainability, inclusion and revitalizing this sector.
Some of the leaders I would be excited to see involved include:
Ally Cedeno who is the founder of Women O�shore and a graduate of the U.S. Merchant
Marine Academy. She is passionate about the ocean and transforming the industry. Ally has
spent most of her career at sea and has been a strong advocate for more inclusion in the
maritime sector.
Another potential leader who should be involved is Kathy Metcalf, the President and CEO of
WISTA International and another graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. WISTA is the
Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association. Kathy is also President and CEO of the
Chamber of Shipping of America and serves as Chairperson of the International Chamber of
Shipping’s Environmental Subcommittee, so has a great overview of critical parts of the
maritime sector that have been overlooked for too long.
Another great leader with private sector experience is Cynthia Hudson, CEO and Founder of
Philadelphia-based HudsonAnalytix, one of the leading global maritime risk consultancies
serving the maritime transportation sector. She has a wealth of experience across the maritime
sector and is well known in the industry. These sort of innovative maritime companies are the
future of the U.S. maritime sector over the next decade, and her insights will be invaluable.
An outstanding o�cer would be Captain Roy Love from the U.S. Navy, who has been a
commanding o�cer on board U.S. Navy vessels and currently holds a leadership position with
the U.S. Navy Installations Command. He has been a strong advocate for increasing the
representation of minorities in the maritime sector and getting more children involved in the
industry. He is also a graduate of the State University of New York Maritime College.
Then we can look at Astronauts Scott Kelly and his brother Mark Kelly, who has just been
elected to the US Senate from the State of Arizona. Both the Kelly brothers were graduates of
prestigious marine academies. Astronaut Scott Kelly was a 1987 graduate of the State
University Maritime College (SUNY) and his twin brother, Senator-elect Mark Kelly, was a 1986
graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). They have experience on
commercial ships and got their education at MARAD schools, and both are passionate
educators, which is what the MARAD Administrator’s role requires.
From the private sector, another leader could be someone like Richard du Moulin. He is the
former head of Intertanko, whose members consist of 80% of the world’s tanker �eet. Richard
helped transform the industry, improving safety through measures such as segregated ballast
tanks, which was a big issue at the time impacting 20% of a vessel’s capacity. He is also a world
record holder for the fastest Hong Kong to New York sailing crossing.
Also from the commercial side could be someone like, Jim Lawrence, head of Marine Money, a
leading maritime journal as well as one of the founders of MTI-Network, the largest shipping
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communications �rm. This sort of network will be invaluable for the next head of MARAD to
have access to. Jim has strong environmental and ocean education interests through his
philanthropic work.
On the military side, there is Admiral Thad Allen, who was the Coast Guard Commandant under
President Obama, and who took a strong stand against polluters. He is widely regarded for
leading the Coast Guard’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and 2006, as well as
being the National Incident Commander following the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010.
There is also Admiral James Stavridis, who was a leading Naval Commander under President
Obama. Between 2009 and 2013, Admiral Stavridis was NATO Supreme Allied Commander for
Europe, the �rst Navy O�cer to have held this role. Until recently, he was also Dean of the
Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
So all in all, the U.S. has no shortage of great maritime leaders. They just need to be placed in a
position and empowered to lead the exciting transformation we all know we need in maritime
transportation.
If done in the right way, the next decade could see the most exciting ten years in U.S. maritime
transportation history.”
Lessons from President Trump’s infrastructure promises
In 2016, President Trump came into o�ce promising to radically transform U.S. infrastructure
after criticizing how far U.S. airports had fallen behind other countries.
“Our airports are like from a third-world country,” he said mentioning New York’s three
international airports and Los Angeles International Airport.
Four years later, the jury is still out whether American infrastructure can meet the demands of
the next decade, let alone the next half century.
One lesson for the Biden-Harris team is that much of the infrastructure work needs to begin
early. The incoming Presidential team have a unique opportunity to use the momentum of a
new coronavirus stimulus program to build America’s green infrastructure that will be �t for
purpose for the next half-century.
The slogan for the Biden-Harris team was to ‘build back better.’ A Green Marine Highway
Program is one of these areas that both generate an economic returns, is greener for the
planet and strengthens U.S. security. There is no reason why this shouldn’t be one of those
areas that would have bipartisan support.
A Green Marine Highway would not just be transformational for the U.S., but could become a
beacon for the world.
As inauguration day comes closer, these are some of the bold actions that could change the
world in the battle against climate change.
Source: Forbes
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