Short-sea shipping

Short-sea shipping includes the movements of wet and dry bulk cargoes, containers and passengers around the coast (say from Lisbon to Rotterdam or from New Orleans to Philadelphia).

The main advantages promoted for this type of shipping are alleviation of congestion, decrease of air pollution, and overall cost savings to the shipper and a government.

The European Commission presented a 35-point action plan in June 2021 to increase the amount of goods moved through Europe's rivers and canals and to speed up the switch to zero-emission barges by 2050.

This is in accordance with the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and the European Green Deal, which set the target of boosting inland canal and short-sea shipping by 25% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050.

[9] Cargo movements on the Great Lakes Waterway and Saint Lawrence Seaway system can be classified as short-sea shipping under this broadening of terminology.

The concept is intended to use existing capacity on the 3,700-kilometer (2,300 mi) St. Lawrence – Great Lakes corridor in harmony with rail and truck modes to reduce overland congestion.

Great Lakes Feeder Lines of Burlington, Ontario, Canada was the first company to operate a "fit for purpose", European-built short-sea shipping vessel, named Dutch Runner, on the St. Lawrence Seaway under Canadian flag.

Another Canadian firm, Hamilton-based McKeil Marine, operates a fleet of tug-and-barge combinations; these have has been moving commodities such as tar, fuels, aluminum ingots, and break bulk cargoes for years on the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Along the St. Lawrence River, McKeil Marine transports aluminum ingots from a smelter in Quebec to destinations in Ohio, a distance of 944 nautical miles (1,748 km).