MOTORWAY OF THE SEA

PPI, May 2008 by Hunter, Joanne

Short sea shipping growth is on a par with road transport and thus has come under the scrutiny of the European Commission

SHORT SEA SHIPPING is forecast a wave of European initiatives to boost its efficiency and competitiveness. The Commission wants to simplify administration of maritime transport to promote a "European maritime space without barriers" and the results of a consultation were due in April.

The growth of short sea is almost on a par with that of road transport in tonne/kilometers. It adapts to European geography with its many coastal regions and ports and can feed smaller ports with containers distributed from the European hub ports.

Maritime transport's energy efficiency is recognized and the externalities - indirect costs such as accidents and environmental impacts per tonne/kilometer - are low compared to road transport.

The beginnings of an "e-maritime environment" are there. Technical solutions can already be used to track and trace vessels, to see that goods remain in initial conditions and to check if a maritime journey has been executed as declared by the ship's Master. There is hope that clumsy, time-consuming administrative controls and documentation checks will be ditched for good.

"MARITIME SPACE WITHOUT BARRIERS"

A European maritime space without barriers sets the scene for the new age of Motorways of the Sea (MoS) : transport connections making regular and frequent short sea transport services integral to a door-to-door logistics chain: an antidote for road congestion and key to better access to outlying regions.

Acting on the consolation results, the Commission could

a) Do nothing and allow each Member State to simplify and streamline administrative procedures: unlikely, as the trend is for increasing legislation to address security and illegal immigration;

b) Act on a case-by-case basis involving the relevant ship-owners to port authorities and shippers;

c) Propose a regulation to abolish administrative formalities and recommend measures falling under Member State competence; review the effect of new communication, information and positioning technologies on the competitiveness on the industry.

AN INTERNET FOR CARGO

Co-modality is the sum of all traffic modes developed optimally. Information and communications systems (ICT) are seen as the enabling factor in functional infrastructures, traffic and fleet management, track-and-trace, and connected businesses and administrations. Progress could be hampered because existing use of ICT is disparate across the market.

A paper-free, electronic flow of information in an efreight environment will become more practical and affordable thanks to emerging technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and, according to powers-that-be, the Galileo satellite positioning system.

The future will see an Internet for cargo with information online to allow comparison between freight transport operator services, and maritime exchange of information from ship to shore, shore to ship and between interested parties.

The Commission plans to establish a detailed roadmap for ITS in Europe for freight logistics during 2008.