America's Marine Highways help reduce emissions and congestion, creates jobs, and reduces the likelihood of accidents by shifting freight and passengers from often-gridlocked roads and railroads to the long-established marine highways. Hence, marine highways can be a seamless part of U.S. surface transportation system.

While integrating America’s Marine Highways into the surface transportation system and expanding their use are objectives of the new America’s Marine Highway Program and therefore Cooperative, several container and roll-on roll-off freight services are already operating in a cleaner, safer, more fuel efficient way today.

SHIP IT

The multitude of Marine Highway services described below provide a snapshot of the United States’ current reliance on America’s Marine Highways, helping relieve landside congestion along high volume corridors like Interstate 95, Interstate-10, and Interstate-5 as well as throughout the East, Gulf and West Coasts. Further, America’s Marine Highways extends inland into America’s Heartland and up to the Great Lakes.

We encourage you to consider making America’s Marine Highways part of your own surface transportation planning:

• U.S. EAST COAST
• U.S. WEST COAST
• U.S. GULF COAST
• AMERICA'S HEARTLAND
• GREAT LAKES

U.S. EAST COAST

The East Coast Corridor has eight services:

1. New York - Portland (ME) - Boston (container): Columbia Coastal Transport offers weekly service as an alternative to the highly congested Interstate-95 corridor and shortline (rail) hauls. For information and bookings, please contact Kevin Mack at (908) 991-0001.
2. Norfolk - Baltimore (container): Columbia Coastal Transport offers twice-weekly service as an alternative to the Interstate-95 corridor. For information and bookings, please contact Kevin Mack at (908) 991-0001.
3. Norfolk - Richmond (container): The James River Barge Line or “64 Express”, Norfolk Tug offers container-on-barge and Ro/Ro weekly service (increased frequency is likely in the near future) from Norfolk to Richmond, removing up to 4,000 trucks from Interstate-64.
   For information and bookings, please contact Steve McGowan at (757) 545-1981.
4. Jacksonville - San Juan (container, reefer, & hazmat): Horizon Lines offers two direct weekly sailings for "The Jacksonville Express".
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
5. Jacksonville - Puerto Rico (container/Ro-Ro): Crowley offers this multiple and fixed-day service with barges ranging in size from 570 feet to 730 feet having the ability to haul up to 512 trailers and 240 automobiles plus oversized loads (e.g., generators and construction equipment) and other specialty cargoes. Further, barges are configured to handle 53-foot trailers.
   For information and bookings, please call (800) CROWLEY.
6. Jacksonville - San Juan (container/automobiles/heavy equipment): Sea Star provides two vessel sailings (with service to the Virgin Islands and the Eastern Caribbean) per week from Jacksonville and weekly service to Houston, Port Everglades, and Port Elizabeth. This service utilizes Sea Star’s combination Lo-Lo/Ro-Ro vessels.
   For information, please call Sea Star at (904) 855-1260
7. Jacksonville - San Juan (container): Trailer Bridge provides three vessel sailings (with service to the Dominican Republic) per week. This service utilizes Trailer Bridge’s Triplestack Box Carriers®, the first Lo/Lo vessels in the world built for 53-foot containers, or its triple-deck roll-on, roll-off vessels. Further, integrated service with Pacer Stacktrain provides through bill-of-lading from San Juan to Southern California in 12 days and from San Juan to Northern California/the Pacific Northwest in 16 days.
   For information, please call Trailer Bridge at (800) 554-1589.
8. Jacksonville (& the U.S. West Coast) - Dominican Republic (container/Ro-Ro): Trailer Bridge provides three vessel sailings (with service to San Juan) per week. The marine move utilizes Trailer Bridge’s Triplestack Box Carriers®, the first Lo/Lo vessels in the world built for 53 foot containers, or its triple-deck roll-on, roll-off vessels. Further, integrated service with Pacer Stacktrain provides through bill-of-lading to Southern California in 12 days from San Juan and to Northern California/the Pacific Northwest in 16 days (from San Juan).
   For information, please call Trailer Bridge at (800) 554-1589.
9. Elizabeth NJ - San Juan (container, reefer & hazmat): Horizon Lines offers this service with weekly sailings.
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
10. Orient Point, New York - New London, CT (pedestrian/personal vehicle & trailer): The Cross Sound Ferry Service includes two ferries seven (7) times daily each way, to avoid the alternative 105-mile transit through New Rochelle.
    For information, please call (860) 443-5281 in New England or (631) 323-2525 in Long Island.

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U.S. WEST COAST

The West Coast Corridor has nine services:

1. Tacoma – Oakland - Honolulu (container): Horizon Lines offers three weekly fixed-day direct sailings to Honolulu with continuing service to the five neighboring Islands as well as weekly connecting service to the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan and biweekly connecting service to Tinian and Rota (on a through bill of lading).
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
2. Tacoma – Oakland – Guam (container): Horizon Lines offers this weekly fixed day sailing with weekly connecting service to the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan and biweekly connecting service to Tinian and Rota (on a through bill of lading).
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
3. Pacific Northwest (Portland & Seattle) - Kodiak & Dutch Harbor (container and specialized cargo incl. cars, motorcycles & boats): Horizon Lines offers this weekly, fixed day service. (Also, an extensive truck and barge service connects the marine highways service with Anchorage, Akutan, Bristol Bay, the Pribilof Islands, King Cove, Sand Point, the Kenai Peninsula, Prudhoe Bay, Eagle River, Fairbanks and Palmer.)
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
4. West Coast (Portland, Seattle, Oakland & Long Beach) - Hawaii (container, specialized/oversize cargo & reefer): Matson Navigation offers eight arrivals every 14 days.
   For information, please call (800) MATSON 4.
5. Northern California (Seattle, Portland & Oakland) - Honolulu (container, specialized/oversize cargo & reefer): Matson Navigation operates this service twice weekly, every Tuesday and Friday. (There is also a Friday departure via Long Beach every other week.).
   For information, please call (800) MATSON 4.
6. Long Beach – Honolulu (container, specialized/oversize cargo & reefer): Matson Navigation operates this service twice weekly, every Saturday and Wednesday.
   For information, please call (800) MATSON-4.
7. Pacific Northwest (Portland & Seattle) – Hawaii (container, specialized/oversize cargo & reefer): Matson Navigation offers weekly Sunday departures.
   For information, please call (800) MATSON 4.
8. Tacoma - Anchorage (containers & Ro/Ro): Totem Ocean Trailer offers two vessel sailings per week. The company operates two new Orca Class Ro/Ro vessels, the MV Midnight Sun and the MV North Star, with the capacity to carry over 600 28-foot to 53-foot highway trailers.
   For information and bookings, please contact Bill Crawford at (253) 449-8157, for the lower 48 states, or Curt Stoner in Alaska at (907) 265-7215.
9. Dutch Harbor – Ketchikan (passengers, personal vehicles & trucks): The Alaskan Marine Highways System provides the transport of freight and passengers along the coastline and inland, extending the state’s surface transportation system.
   For information, please call Larry Bull at (907)789-7459 or Dennis Bousson at (907) 983-2941.

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U.S. GULF COAST

The Gulf Coast Corridor has four services:

1. Houston - Pascagoula (containers): Osprey Lines operates this weekly service along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway via Lake Charles, New Orleans, and Mobile as well as to inland destinations.
   For information, please call (281) 867-1792 in Houston or (504) 569-2166 in New Orleans.
2. Houston - Brownsville (container): Richardson Marine/Schaefer Stevedoring together offer this bi weekly service, also known as the "Houston–Brownsville Barge Express Service".
   For information and bookings, please contact Allen Eckhardt at (713) 673-1110.
3. Houston - Puerto Rico (container, reefer & hazmat): Horizon Lines provides this service from every fourteen days.
   Please call (877) 678-7447 for bookings, truck & rail services, documentation, and rate inquiries.
4. Brownsville - Port Manatee (container and general/break bulk service): SeaBridge Freight offers a four-day scheduled bluewater service from the with a 600 TEU barge (~300 truckloads).
   For information and bookings, please contact Grant Castle at (360) 901-1106.

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AMERICA’S HEARTLAND

America's Heartland consists of inland waterways including the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri, Rivers up to the Great Lakes. It currently has many services in various states throughout the United States:

1. New Orleans-Memphis (container): Osprey Lines currently operates a weekly container-on-barge service via the Mississippi River from Gulf Intracoastal Coast (Houston, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Mobile, and Pascagoula) to Memphis and Chicago.
   For information and bookings, please call (281) 867-1792 in Houston or (504) 569-2166 in New Orleans.
2. Other Ferry Services: States with ferry services include Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State, and Wisconsin.
   The National Transit Database, including ferry services, is available at www.ntdprogram.gov. (Historical federal obligations, as an example of potential funding sources, for various ferry services include: www.fta.dot.gov).

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GREAT LAKES

The Great Lakes has three services currently operating:

1. Detroit – Windsor (passengers, personal vehicles & trucks - hazmat): The Detroit-Windsor Truck Ferry operates between Michigan and Ontario, alleviating border congestion at the Ambassador and Blue Water Bridges which handle over 10,000 trucks per day. These points have been identified as the most congested border crossing between the United States and Canada. (Federal law restricts the transportation of hazardous materials from local bridges and tunnels. The ferry service is the only legal crossing for these materials at this cross-border area.)
   For information and bookings, please email Tim Gagnier in Windsor at TimGagnier@truckferry.com or James Primus in Detroit at JPrimus@truckferry.com.
2. Ontario - Montreal (container): McKeil Marine offers this dedicated container-on-barge service from Hamilton Port Authority (through the St. Lawrence Seaway and Lake Ontario for transshipped cargo to and from India/Pakistan. The service consists of 68 containers that are brought there by Maersk and CMA CGM, stressing the importance of the link between the marine highways and international shipping.
   For information and bookings, please contact Paulo Pessoa at (905) 528-4141, ext. 236.
3. Manitowoc - Ludington (passengers, personal vehicles, trucks & general cargo): The Lake Michigan Car Ferry provides this twice-daily service form Wisconsin to Michigan with the SS Badger, a 410-foot vessel capable of hauling 2,000 tons of cargo. The service operates between a three-hour transit, providing an 180-nautical-mile alternative over the 413-mile drive (over seven hours) via Chicago, IL.
   For information and bookings, please call (231) 843-1509.
4. Interlake Services: Services run between various points on Lakes Erie, Superior, Michigan, Ontario, and Huron and involve the carriage of dry, liquid and general cargoes which help in the infrastructure development and energy production. For more information, please see the Lake Carriers Association or contact Glen Nekvasil at (440) 333-9996.
   For information and bookings, please call (231) 843-1509.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the new America's Marine Highway Program, please see Federal Register Docket Number MARAD-2008 0096, or contact Noël P. Comeaux, AICP, PMP, at (202) 366-5527.