America’s Forgotten Marine Highway Network That Could Green Global Freight Transport

U.S. freight transport is forecast to grow by 40% over the next two decades. The rapid growth of e-commerce, accelerated by more first 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.

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 efficiency 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 significant.

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 off by the USSR, forcing American, British and French cargo planes to fly in supplies for over a year to the besieged city, at very short notice. These 300,000 flights 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 fleets are in China, Japan, 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 efficiently 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 find 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 firms, 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 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 qualified 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 Offshore 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 officer would be Captain Roy Love from the U.S. Navy, who has been a commanding officer 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 fleet. 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 communications firm. 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 first Navy Officer 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 office 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 fit 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.