Maine Port Authority chief pushes for 'short-sea' shipping to N.Y., N.J.
File photo / Renee Cordes
Jonathan Nass, CEO of the Maine Port Authority, at the International Marine Terminal in Portland.
Jonathan Nass, CEO of the Maine Port Authority, is pushing for the launch of a short-sea cargo shipping route between Maine and New York and New Jersey — and wants to promote it on the national stage.
"We are continuing to meet with New York and New Jersey on a regular basis, and I believe there is a future for it," he told Mainebiz in an interview at Portland's International Marine Terminal last week.
He said that while some freight is transported on the water, it tends to be mainly bulk energy products, and that waterborne container shipping is not really done in the United States, where most heavy cargo is moved by truck.
To ease congestion and wear and tear on roads other infrastructure, he suggests short-sea shipping as an alternative, and believes that quick access to the interstate highway is a strong selling point.
"One of the things we offer is quick access to [Interstate] 95," Nass said. "You don't get that in New York and New Jersey, so I think they're looking for alternatives."
If all parties are willing, he said a route could start "in a matter of months."
"We have the equipment, we have the pier, so it's a matter of the cargo being there," Nass said.
The plan would to be start a typical tug-and-tow service with existing vessels, and later to have so-called articulated tug barges built once the business takes off.
"It's a matter of the cargo being there," he said.
'More to transportation than highways'
Nass also touted the benefits of domestic short-sea shipping to federal lawmakers in June when he testified before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
"There is more to the transportation equation than highways," he told lawmakers, suggesting the establishment of a well-utilized marine highway "as functional as roads and bridges but without the cost of pavement and steel," or potholes and traffic jams.
"That's exactly what the Maritime Administration's Marine Highway program is designed to do," he said, "and it should be a top priority when fixing the entire system."
He told Mainebiz that while Washington seems receptive to the idea, a shift in priorities at federal level is needed.
"The Maritime Administration is awesome," he added, "but the whole game needs to get kicked up a couple notches if this is what we want to do as a nation."
Container volume growth and cold storage update
Speaking more generally about Portland's International Marine Terminal, Nass told Mainebiz that cargo volumes moving through the port continue to rise.
The projection is for around 30,000 ton equivalent units to have moved in 2019, up from 22,325 in 2018, he said.
Asked about prospects for a long-awaited waterfront cold-storage facility, Nass said that talks are "still ongoing," and said that state officials are leaving it up to Icelandic shipping and logistics firm Eimskip USA to seek a deal with potential investors. He also said "the state is not likely to do it on its own."
Plans for a freezer warehouse have been in limbo since Americold Realty Trust (NYSE: COLD) abruptly abandoned development plans last June.
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