costs as compared with foreign flag carriers crewing with foreign nationals, who are free to buy subsistence and supplies, maintenance and repairs, and insurance at best advantage in the worldwide markets; -federal channel and harbor development; -cargo preference provisions reserving to U.S. carriers all domestic water traffic (cabotage) and certain foreign traffic in which the Federal Government has direct interest; -research and development in transportation systems and equipment. The performance of the system can be evaluated by its costs and products. Costs include expenses of manpower, motive power, capital plant, loss and damage to cargo, loss and damage to vessels, life and other property, and public expenditures associated with ocean transport. Products relate to loads carried, distances traversed, time elapsed, and rates charged. System Performance: National Significance The cost incurred by actual movements of cargo is the most significant yardstick of performance. The cost of transportation for a shipment of $30,000 of medical supplies from Chicago, Illinois, to Nancy, France, was analyzed by the Maritime Administration as an illustration of relative opportunities for savings by stages in the overseas shipment. The breakdown of the $2,386 transport cost by stages was: Thus, about 60% of the total delivery cost accrues in the U.S. port and ocean shipping stages. Principal opportunities for cost reduction in the U.S. maritime transportation system through the application of marine science and technology appear to be: Ocean Shipping • Reduction in capital costs of ships • Reduction in operating costs • Reduction in maritime accidents of all kinds (including oil spillage) United States Ports • Reduction in costs of channel dredging and maintenance • Increased speed of cargo handling • Reduction in pilferage • Reduction in space requirements for terminal facilities To the extent these opportunities may be realized, the resulting benefits are: -improved service to shippers (frequency, speed, convenience of routing); -increased contribution to commerce by inducements to traffic that would not otherwise occur; -increased U.S. maritime presence and reduction in the U.S. balance of payments deficit by larger U.S. flag participation in our foreign trade; better articulation of port functions with other urban activities resulting in improved economic effectiveness in the use of port space and in enhanced habitability around the port areas. In addition to potential contributions to the merchant marine, research and development for improved ship design may contribute to domestic fishing, development of non-living resources, and ocean exploration. A very large proportion of the cost for scientific expeditions and military or commercial ventures at sea goes for vessel construction and operations so that any advances in merchant vessel economy and performance pay multiple dividends. The technological characteristics of maritime transport are changing, and they interact with the institutional framework in such matters, for example, as ship automation. Research and development directed toward the above opportunities should increase the range of options open, define trade-offs with respect to both dollar and social costs, and assist in the most appropriate ordering of decisions. As noted above, port terminals are a critical element of the system. Thus, consideration of maritime commerce encompasses the other needs for waterfront property occupied by ports (usually in the heart of large cities) and maritime development related to urban development and renewal. Federal Activities in Maritime Transportation Development The Federal Government provides essential research, planning and safety services and support systems to facilitate private maritime transportation. To put these activities in perspective, some $40 billion in water-borne U.S. foreign trade is supported by a group of Federal activities costing about $800 million annually. Less than two percent of that amount is directly expended on Federal research and development activities as discussed in this chapter to improve and support the transport system. 7 Agencies with principal responsibilities in maritime transportation research and development are the Department of Transportation, the Maritime Administration (Department of Commerce), Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (Department of Interior), and the Army Corps of Engineers. Their science and technology activities encompass in general: -system-wide research and planning (Office of the Secretary of Transportation); -navigational aids and other safety measures (Coast Guard); -technology for shipbuilding, vessel design and operations, and cargo handling (Maritime Administration); -research and technical development on control and cleanup of pollution from oil and other hazardous cargoes (Coast Guard and FWPCA); -research and engineering in support of channel and harbor development (Army Corps of Engineers). Federal marine science expenditures in the ocean transportation area for FY 1969 are budgeted at $15.4 million. Funding data by general categories are presented in Figure VI.1, and details by specific categories are given in Table A.1 of Appendix A under Transportation, and in selected line items under Development and Conservation of the Coastal Zone in the same table. Planning and Research The Department of Transportation has basic planning and research responsibilities with respect to the total domestic and international transportaion systems. The larger-scale inter-modal and multi-modal issues of policy, facilitation, and systems analysis are evaluated in the Office of the Secretary. Sub-systems and services, particularly those concerned with a single mode of transportation, are planned, designed, and operated by major branches within the Department. By such planning, sea transport is considered within the broad framework of a transportation system that includes truck, plane, rail, pipeline, and other modes. 6 * Including (FY 1967): $327 million for Maritime Administration; $177 million for channel and harbor development; $240 million for Customs Bureau; selected activities of the Coast Guard; and other miscellaneous Federal support to shipping. 'Not included is an appropriate allocation of Navy research and development expenditures as applied to ship design (not included in the marine science program) and related nautical charting and safety activities of Navy and ESSA mentioned elsewhere. Figure VI-1- Federal Marine Science 1 Limited to R&D and scientific services; excludes funding for capital Navigation and Safety Aids The Coast Guard has primary responsibility for safety of shipping—a requisite to efficient and effective operation of the total maritime transport system. The safety problem is underscored by the fact that in 1966, United States registered vessels operating throughout the world and foreign vessels operating in United States waters suffered more than 2400 collisions and other serious casualties. Accurate all-weather navigation is necessary for shipping to avoid collisions with rocks, other vessels, and fixed structures, and is also a prerequisite to rational ship routing to avoid adverse weather and operate most economically. New technology is making a major contribution to this function (see Figure VI.2). Long-Range Navigation (LORAN-A and C) stations, by which a ship may determine its position in the open sea more accurately than before, now service the major shipping lanes. As a result of recent Navy declassification and reductions in costs of commercial receivers, the TRANSIT satellite navigation system (with a precision of about one-tenth of a mile) holds further promise for ocean safety. This position-fixing equipment is independent of the vagaries of electrical atmospheric or cloud interference. The Coast Guard is also modernizing and automating navigation aids such as lighthouses through the use of remote telemetry systems. Figure VI.2. The mainstays of the Coast Guard, its patrol ships, illustrate operational innovations in maritime science and technology. The U.S.C.G. HAMILTON, for example, employs two turbine engines which enable it to attain speeds in excess of 20 knots. (U.S. Coast Guard photograph.) |