Great Lakes can support shortsea shipping between US and Canada
A new study has shown the advantages of shortsea shipping services between southern Ontario and the US Great Lakes region.
The study was authored by Fluid Intelligence, a partnership of HOPA Ports and the McMaster Institute for Transportation & Logistics, with support from Transport Canada.
It highlights the numerous trade flows that could benefit from integrating marine transportation alongside trucking services.
According to the study, over 12,000 trucks per week make cross-border trips between Southern Ontario and US Great Lakes port areas, carrying non-perishable commodities that could instead be shipped using marine transport.
By using shortsea shipping services on the Great Lakes, the study believes that it would lead to a reduction in highway and border congestion, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and improve supply chain resilience.
Shortsea shipping also offers a significant environmental advantage, as one marine vessel can carry the same cargo capacity as 963 transport trucks while emitting just 15% of the CO2 per metric tonne/km.
Issues such as highway congestion, border delays, lack of transportation redundancy, and truck driver shortages have been exacerbated by population growth and density. The economic cost of congestion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area alone is estimated to be up to $6 billion per year.
The Fluid Intelligence study stated that the Great Lakes Region accounts for more than 50% of all US-Canadian border trade. Some 28.5m tonnes of cargo per year are transported by truck from Ontario to the US, with 70% destined for a Great Lakes State. Conversely, at least 24 million tonnes of cargo per year originate in the US and move by truck into Ontario, with 55% originating in a Great Lakes State.
The study focuses on specific routes and commodity flows that are excellent candidates for new marine services. These include the potential for marine services between southern Ontario and ports on Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. Chicago and Milwaukee, with their concentration of economic activity and strong connections to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, stand out as promising destinations.
Overall, there are approximately 12,000 truck trips per week – within a 100km radius – between five US Great Lakes ports and southern Ontario. By diverting just 10% of the existing cargo currently moved by truck between southern Ontario and the Port of Chicago, for example, the transportation system could save 220 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per week.
