Page 25: of Marine News Magazine (March 2022)

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Feature

Inland Waterways

Efforts to supercharge container of America’s navigable waterways for uid side, with 4,000 total barges, Kir- transport on the Mississippi have the movement of freight and people as by dominated with more than 1,000 been underway for several years, but an alternative to land-based transpor- units, followed by Canal Barge, ACL they have taken on a sense of urgency tation.” Analysts and port executives and Florida Marine, each with more with the ongoing supply chain chaos participating in the Kentucky River- than 300 barges. of 2021. The Soy Transportation ports 2021 session (a follow-up to the In summing up the sector’s overall

Coalition’s Steenhoek offered a very 2020 event) emphasized the potential picture for Marine News, Blessey’s positive view of APH’s plans, in re- to divert multiple types of cargo mov- Clark Todd said, “As the incoming marks at Kentucky’s 2020 Riverports ing in surface modes on to the Ohio chairman of the board of American

Summit. “There is a trend towards River, and other waterways. Waterways Operators, I have a unique moving agricultural commodities via The year 2021 did not see any sig- perspective of the entire inland tug- containers, including commodities ni? cant merger and acquisition ac- boat and barge industry. In my role at like soybeans.” In moving beans to tivity, so that the well-known names AWO, I have the opportunity to have export markets, he noted that bulk continue to dominate. On the dry dialogues with the different sectors of transport would predominate, but side, with a total ? eet of more than the marine world. A few of the sectors container transits, backhauls for boxes 18,000 barges, Ingram’s ? eet totaled have already started to see stronger that transported consumer goods up around 3,900, American Commercial demand and utilization. With rising the rivers: “the slice of the pie chart Lines (ACL) with more than 3,000 crude oil prices, and an eagerness for that is labeled as containerized ship- and American River Transportation folks to travel, we believe 2022 will be ping will continue to grow….as ship- (tied to agri-giant ADM) with ap- a very strong as a jumpstart to recov- pers try to localize supply chains in a proximately 1,800 barges. On the liq- ery in our industry.” global market.”

Modal shifts from surface transport (road and rail) on to the rivers has also been a feature in the bulk cargo moves.

The U.S. Maritime Administration’s

America’s Marine Highway program’s late 2021 awards included a $1.4 mil- lion grant for the M-70 Barge Service linking Cincinnati with ports in Ken- tucky along the Ohio River, following up on $2.9 million awarded the previ- ous year for related projects. Steel pro- ducer Nucor Corporation, the project sponsor, will increase its transport of steel products by barge, taking trucks off the roads. When the 2021 grants were announced (which also included funding for Seacor’s container-on- barge linkage from Memphis to the

Lower Mississippi River), the Act- ing Maritime Administrator Lucinda

Lessley described AMH as “an innova- tive program that encourages the use www.marinelink.com MN 25|