USDOT Grants Marine Highways $12.6m to Ease Supply Chain Woes

The Department of Transportation awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects.

The funding is meant to address supply chain disruptions and “expand existing waterborne freight services in “Delaware, Hawaii,Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana,North Carolina,New York,New Jersey, Tennessee,Texas,andVirginia.”

“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Programwill help us move more goods, more quickly and more efficiently,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said. “In this moment of record demand for goods and shipping, this is an important piece of the Administration’s Port Action Plan to strengthen supply chains, modernize port operations, and lower the cost of goods for American families.”

The funding is part of the Biden-Harris Port Action Plan; a $4 billion quick-fix to supply chain chaos by the administration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v54eCK0Q0Wk

The recently-passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is also set to provide marine highway projects with an additional $25 million.

“America’s Marine Highway Programis an innovative program thatencouragesthe use of America’s navigable waterways for the movement of freight and people as an alternative to land-basedtransportation,” Acting Maritime Administrator Lucinda Lessley said. “The funding announced today advances our ongoing efforts to help new marine highway services begin operation and to improve existing services.”

According to the USDOT press release, the following projects will receive funding:

“Delawareand New Jersey 
Cape May – Lewes Ferry(awarded $600,000) 
Project sponsor Delaware River and Bay Authority. Thisgrant willsupporta comprehensive ferry master plantodevelop a new, modern,efficient, and cleanerferryboat design.The master plan will serve as a comprehensive analysis of operationsandservice needs,andhelpdetermine the types, sizes, and number of ferries that are needed in the future. With a nationwidepush towards a low carbon economy transition, the ferry systemis capable of incorporating technologies within the vessels that can benefit customers as well as the environment, including electric vehicle charging stations.

Hawaii 
Hawaii Commercial Harbors System Shipping Services(awarded $200,475) 
Sponsored byYoung Brothers, LLC, the grant funds will be used to purchase99forklift scales to enhance the newly designated Hawaii Commercial Harbors System Shipping Services Project. The scales will improve the safety and efficiency of Young Brother’s inter-island cargo operations by providing real-time weight information for cargo being transported. Currently, weight information is provided by the shipper.

Indianaand Kentucky 
M-70 Barge Service in the Ports of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Beyond (awarded $1,408,000) 
Sponsored byNucor Corporation, grant funds will support the acquisition of a Buy American-compliant bridge crane at the new marine terminal in Gallatin County, Kentucky. This site will transport steel products by inland river barge. The purchase of the new crane will be designed to lift 70 tons to meet market demand.

Louisiana and Tennessee 
Baton Rouge-New Orleans Shuttle Service (awarded $847,500) 
Sponsored by SEACOR AMH,thisgrantwill fund the purchase of 100container chassis;supportmodification to the towboat wheelhouse;andenableone bareboat lease of a new 2520 horsepower Z-Drive towboat with Tier 3 engines. Funding forthisprojectwill support the continued growth of the Memphis, Tennesseeto Port Allen, Louisianacontainer shuttle.

North Carolina 
North Carolina Container on Barge Shuttle Operation(awarded $1,015,000) 
Sponsored byStevens Towing of North Carolina, grantfundswere awardedforanEquipment Upgrade Project,which includes the purchase of a crawler crane, two spreader bars,and a forklift.Currently, containerized cargo bound for the Port of Virginia from Edenton must reach its destination via truck, causing high amounts of volume on North Carolina and Virginia roadways. This service will run betweenRiverbulkTerminal in Edenton, North Carolina,to locations within the Port of Virginia, and operate utilizing a 200 TEU capacity deck barge for Lo/Lo cargo and/or Ro/Ro cargo.

NewJersey 
Mid-Atlantic Barge Service(awarded $1,010,800) 
Sponsored by the South Jersey Port Corporation, this project willacquire two American-made, low-emissions reach stackers for the Balzano Marine Terminal at the Port of Camden, NJ. These fully mobile reach stackers will be utilizedterminal wide.Usingthese reach stackers, the Balzano Marine Terminal is expected to increase densification and throughput, creating a more resilient system of transport at the terminal.

New York and New Jersey 
New York Harbor Container and Trailer-on-Barge Service (awarded $1,470,000) 
Sponsored by Red Hook Container Terminal, LLC., this projectwill be used tomodify a deck barge to begin the Trailer-on-Barge Package Delivery Service of the New York Harbor Container & Trailer on Barge Service. Upon completion of these modifications, the trailer-on-barge portion of this designation will begin transporting up to 36 trailers between Brooklyn and Newarkonone round trip per day, 260 days per year.

Texas 
Chambers County-Houston Container on Barge Expansion Service(awarded $3,000,000) 
Sponsored byChamber County Improvement District #1,thisgrantwill support thepurchaseoftwo purpose-built barges.Funding this projectwill enablethe applicant to transport up to 56,000 containers annually to and from the surrounding ports.

Virginia 
James River Container Expansion Project(awarded $3,048,363) 
Sponsored bytheVirginia Port Authority, the grant will be used toimprove lighting within the perimeter of the Richmond Marine Terminal(RMT)through the installation of high mast light poleswithLightEmittingDiode(LED)fixtures and the retrofitting of existing light poles and LEDfixtures.Expandingthe operational capacity at the terminal with improved lighting within the facility will allow for barge operations beyond daylight hours.”