US Short Sea Shipping and GHG Reduction Opportunities

Opportunities for GHG reduction with Short Sea Shipping (SSS) in the US are investigated for their potential impact on US transportation emissions and how they compare to those being addressed by IMO for international shipping. There is a decades-long body of support for increasing SSS in the US which has been concerned predominantly with alleviating landside traffic congestion. Europe as well has had a historical adoption of SSS as a component of its transportation system and more recently has considered its contribution to Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Cars and trucks comprise the largest component of the US Transportation Sector which is the largest responsible for GHG production, while also contributing to roadway congestion and damage affording opportunity for improvement. Although benefits of SSS in the US have been acknowledged, progress in its development has been slow. Current SSS systems are considered and their expanded use postulated for evaluating the effects they could have on GHG emissions, and as a by-product congestion and road damage. Federal and state support such as that enjoyed by other transportation systems is addressed as a potential catalyst to support SSS. More vessels to serve SSS will also benefit the US shipbuilding industry. Nevertheless, projections for future road traffic suggest there may be no alternative to substantially increasing SSS. INTRODUCTION The opportunities for Short Sea Shipping (SSS), or what is alternatively referred as the "Marine Highway", benefitting cargo and passenger movements and a solution for decreasing highway congestion in the US has been considered for decades. Such thriving marine transport networks exist and continue to develop such as the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes Seaway and the Mississippi River. Although the benefits of alleviating traffic congestion have long been identified, SSS exists to a lesser extent between ports on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts where traffic congestion remains a serious issue. Europe has long utilized SSS on its coasts for mitigation of road congestion landside (EU, 2010). With the concern for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it has more recently included SSS as a component of its efforts to reduce GHGs. The European Union (EU) has adopted a transportation goal of reducing 60% of GHGs generated by transport by 2050 and by 2030 a shift of 30% of road freight over 300km to other modes of transportation (EU,2025). SSS made up 58.2% of the total sea transport of goods to and from the main EU ports in 2022. Nevertheless, the EU acknowledges there are still a significant number of obstacles hampering this shipping industry which need to be addressed including simplification of administration, selection of new technologies for complying with new and stricter environmental legislation and integration of SSS in the complete logistics chain.