Short Sea Shipping - US and Canada

US and Canada

Cargo movements on the Great Lakes Seaway System are an excellent example of this broadening of terminology.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation of Canada with its U.S. counterpart the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation has for the past several years promoted this concept under its marketing umbrella ‘Hwy H2O’. The concept is intended to utilize 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 the Dutch Runner, on the Great Lakes Seaway System under Canadian flag. During the winter of 2008-2009 she operated a weekly, fixed service between Halifax and St. Pierre et Miquelon carrying Ro-Ro (Roll on - Roll off), break bulk, containers and reefers. The ship can load and unload herself with her two 35 tonne cranes.

Another Canadian firm, Hamilton based McKeil Marine Inc., operates a fleet of ‘tug and barge’ combinations has been moving commodities such as tar, fuels, aluminum ingots and break bulk cargoes for years on the Great Lakes Seaway System. 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). One barge carries the equivalent of 220 40 ton trucks.