What is Short Sea shipping? To some old sea dogs, it’s simply a coastal service to move goods and people from one location to another by sea. Examples of Short Sea practices already exist in Canada. They include the Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry Operation, Seaspan intermodal coastal service between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and Oceanex, a shipping service to Newfoundland and Labrador. Although CN Rail doesn’t call it a Short Sea service, it does transport entire trains by barge from British Columbia to Alaska as part of its Aquatrain service. Transport Canada lists Short Sea proposals for many Canadian waterways including a Halifax to New Hampshire water route, a ferry service across points on the lower St. Lawrence River, and a new barge terminal on the Fraser River for handling roll-on and roll-off services for trucks. For Atlantica, it’s an important service. In an age when container ships are getting larger and larger, and the ports that can handle them fewer and fewer, Short Sea shipping provides a means to get those containers onto smaller vessels for delivery to smaller ports. These articles in The Business Executive, review what’s happening and what is likely to happen in the area of Short Sea shipping. To read The Business Executive, click here.
