Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx gave Marine Highway designation to projects on the Mississippi River, New York Harbor, and the Potomac River.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has designated three new Marine Highway Projects. The DOT is also holding a seminar on the program Thursday.
One of the projects designated this week, an expanded container-on-barge operation in the Port of New York and New Jersey, is expected to begin operating on or around July 1. Another aims to develop container on barge service along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, while the third seeks to create a new commuter ferry on the Potomac, Occoquan, and Anacostia Rivers.
Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen, said there is no funding that goes along with the designation, but “if and when we ever get marine highway funding, they potentially would be eligible at that point.” Jaenichen said there is not currently a presidential request for funding of a marine highway, but the TIGER program could also potentially be used to fund marine highway projects.
He said the U.S. DOT designation also could “potentially help the applicants within their own state DOTs to support getting funding.”
Beth Rooney, assistant director for port performance initiatives at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the designation is a bit like a “seal of approval” for plans by Red Hook Container Terminal in partnership with the Port Newark Container Terminal to start offering and eastbound service from New Jersey to Brooklyn this summer, and could be useful for seeking funding to expand or improve it in the future.
The Port Authority applied for marine highway designation together with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
For 20 years, a westbound container-on-barge service has operated between the Red Hook Terminal in Brooklyn, New York and Port Newark, principally to bring cargo from the Brooklyn terminal to Newark and destinations west of the Hudson River.
Rooney explained the service was originally started two decades ago to reduce traffic on the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn when it was under reconstruction
“Over time the barge service has proved to be valuable in moving cargo that lands in New York over to Newark on to its final destination, because historically a large amount of cargo has been destined west of the Hudson River,” said Rooney.
The new “New York Harbor Container and Trailer on Barge Service” will offer the carriers the ability to move cargo in the opposite direction from New Jersey to Brooklyn, and offer their customers a Brooklyn bill of lading.
“There has been a growing amount of east of Hudson cargo. The benefit of this service is to move containers that land in Port Newark by vessel and move them by barge to Brooklyn,” said Rooney. This will reduce congestion on regional roadways, air pollution, and get cargo closer to its final destination, mostly points in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island and perhaps points to the north.
Moving cargo in both directions should help improve the finances of the barge service as the same barges will move cargo in both directions. Two barges, one with a capacity of 450 TEUs and the other 590 TEUs, will be used to offer twice-weekly service. Barges will bring cargo from Red Hook, discharge it at one shallower berth in Newark, then move to PNCT where deep water ships discharge cargo and load up the barge with containers bound for Brooklyn.
Though it is only a short distance across the New York Harbor, road congestion means the drive can take hours to complete. Rooney said studies show a trip that combines barge and truck to final destination could reduce costs by $200-$250.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also operates a “car float” operated by a unit of the Port Authority called New York New Jersey Rail and received marine highway designation in 2010.
NYNJ Rail is a shortline railroad that operates a barges that move rail cars between the Greenville yards in Jersey City, N.J. and the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. It makes it possible for rail cars to be transported across New York Harbor without having to detour 140 miles north up the Hudson to a rail bridge in Selkirk, N.Y.
Another project that was designated by Secretary Foxx is the M-55/M-35 Container on Barge Project of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative, a group that includes mayors from 68 cities along the river.
Colin Wellenkamp, the director of the initiative, said the project has been in the works since October 2012.
Last year, during their annual meeting, the Inland Rivers Ports & Terminals committed to working with the mayors in the initiative to revive container-on-barge shipping on the Mississippi River, and 13 of the initiative’s mayors signed on as supporters of the designation of the marine highway designation. In the short term, Wellenkamp said cities such as New Orleans, Memphis and St. Louis would benefit from the movement of containers, but the hope is other cities would benefit as well.
Mayor Francis Slay of St. Louis, said, “We expect it will have a significant impact on our River region by providing jobs and improving transportation. It will position us to be a global economic force, ensuring we better use the river assets to increase the region’s economic health and competitiveness.”
Wellenkamp said the group has been working with shippers including Wal-Mart and Home Depot, the Illinois Soybean association and Ingram Barge “to see what it would take to restore container movement to the waterway.” He pointed to the success of Osprey Line, which successfully moved cotton and lumber in containers on barge until the downturn in housing starts following the financial crisis.
“There are also a lot of smaller entities that could use and profit from the competitive advantage of moving container on the waterway and having that as an intermodal option,” he said, adding the project designation was the “next major step in that direction” and would qualify the effort for grant money if it becomes available from Congress.
He said the marine highway program “enabled us to organize the effort, keep it structured and have a goal that everyone could move toward instead of having just a bunch of brainstorming sessions.”
The group now hopes to bring ocean carriers into discussions about moving container on barges along the Mississippi River.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, Office of Marine Highways and Passenger Services will be hosting a webinar today, April 30, from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm EST. The webinar will include a brief introduction to the America’s Marine Highway Program, and the purpose and benefits of Marine Highway Project Designations. MARAD Staff will also review the Project Designation application components, substance, and process, and most importantly, the factors of success for service development. More information and instructions for webinar registration can be found here.
For more information contact Scott Davies at (202) 366-0951.
DOT designates three marine highway projects
