t opside V olume 79 , I s s u e 1 P a ge 16
Marine Safety
“ Traveling on a Different Highway ”
When we think of highways , we normally have images of asphalt or concrete ribbons crisscrossing our country everywhere , enabling us as well as our goods and a host of other things to move easily about the nation . Even our national security is taken into account with the building of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System which was planned and built so that at prescribed intervals , stretches of the highway are long and straight enough to accommodate the landing of large military aircraft . That is the system that is well known to many Americans , however , what might not be as well known is the U . S . highway system that actually does not get utilized as much as it could . That “ highway system ” is what is known as the Marine Highway System so designated by the U . S . Department of Transportation ( the Coast Guard ’ s former peacetime parent agency ) and its Maritime Administration or MARAD .
Gregg Bollinger DSO
Marine Safety
U . S . navigable rivers , bays , coasts , channels , the Great Lakes , St . Lawrence Seaway and the open ocean compose this Marine Highway . Considering that 99 % of overseas trade enters or leaves the U . S . by ship , we therefore need to use our waterways even more intensively than what we currently do . In so-doing , we would reduce traffic congestion on land , reduce wear and tear on landside highways as well as reduce air pollution . In some instances , the use of our marine highway can increase efficiency and serve as a much-needed , more sustainable alternative in categories such as passenger ferry transport where rapid growth is being experienced in response to land-transport congestion . Along with this , commercial fishing and military / naval use of the Marine Highway System is expected to increase in the future .
In point-of-fact , in some instances , use of waterways can actually be a superior alternative to land shipping and transport . Among the tangible benefits of increased use of the Marine Highway System would be :
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Increased jobs on U . S . vessels and in ports and shipyards Improved U . S . economic standing and competitiveness ( waterborne cargo and associated activities contribute more than 64.9 billion annually to the U . S . GDP sustaining 13 million jobs . Source : Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 , Section 1121 ) Improve the environment by reduction of air emissions and use of less energy Improve public safety coming from the shifting of transport of hazardous materials ( hazmat ) outside population centers Provide alternative transportation routes during disaster and national emergency
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