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A survey of short sea shipping and its prospects in the USA

The continuing growth of international container trade has created capacity problems at major US ports, and the truck-based freight transportation has caused a deterioration of traffic congestion on important US transportation corridors. Using inland and coastal waterways, short sea shipping (SSS) can provide an improvement to these problems. Furthermore, SSS offers many additional benefits for the environment, the economy and society as a whole. Both the US Department of Transportation and the European Commission actively support SSS as an alternative, environmentally friendly mode of transportation. However, there are obstacles, administrative barriers and challenges that should be addressed. Several successful operations on both sides of the Atlantic make a strong case in favour of SSS. SSS can develop customized and technologically advanced solutions that will further integrate it into the intermodal transportation chain and will improve its image among shippers as a mode that can provide reliable door-to-door transportation. This paper reviews several studies on the subject and discusses the latest developments on SSS in the US and in Europe. It also addresses the major issues and the benefits of SSS and examines the prospects for potential short sea operations in the US. Finally, it proposes research opportunities for a multimodal transportation system that will include a short sea component.