Short Sea Shipping is a term that en tered the maritime lexicon in the past decade or so. It refers to the movement of freight or passengers in domestic or inland waters and may also include international transport along coastlines or across lakes or rivers.

Although still in relative infancy, it's being pushed hard in Europe and is having phenomenal success.

So, you say, isn't "Short Sea Shipping" what we do on the Great Lakes, where we move 200-plus million tons of commerce annually between U.S. and Canadian ports? Well, yes — and no.

(From left) Port Director Adolph Ojard; Goris van Lit, assistant regional director for U.S Wheat Associates, Inc., Rotterdam, Netherlands; and U.S. Seaway Administrator Albert Jacquez met in Antwerp while participating in the St. Lawrence Seaway Trade Mission.

The difference is that in Europe, the national governments and the environmental organizations are heavily promoting the concept for the social good of their citizens. They have come to recognize that waterborne transportation is an answer to urban traffic congestion, while also meaning cleaner air, fewer accidents, less energy consumption, less waste disposal and, for good measure, lower freight rates.

In North America, by contrast, government generally ignores waterborne transportation while some environmental organizations fight waterway development every step of the way — although it must be acknowledged that the U.S. Maritime Administration and the Canadian Ministry of Transport have begun to explore the potential of Short Sea Shipping.

During a recent St. Lawrence Seaway trade mission to Belgium and the Netherlands, I had the opportunity to tour the Ports of Antwerp, Zeebrugge, Ghent, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. One purpose was to gain better appreciation and understanding of water transportation on the European continent. It was eye-opening.

More than 30 percent of intra-European freight moves via Short Sea Shipping and it's expanding every day. Short Sea terminals are being built or expanded in nearly every port to accommodate these coastal traders.

The European Union, in a recent transportation policy white paper, developed financial incentives to enhance maritime commerce.

Through a program called Marco Polo, $135 million has been set aside to promote and develop marine terminals that support coastal and inland navigation and maritime feeder systems. Qualified projects receive government grants to cover part of the development costs. The goal is to transfer 12 billion kilometer-tons from road to water.

Short Sea promotion centers located in 14 EU countries have formed the European Short Sea Network that collectively promotes Short Sea and identifies and eliminates bottlenecks that hinder effective maritime transportation.

In Germany, a road tax will go into place in the spring to tax trucks on a kilometer-ton basis— in addition to an already high road fuel tax. The tax is intended to reduce congestion on the German highway system by increasing trucking costs.

In short, the EU holds that because of highway congestion, there is serious risk that Europe will lose international economic competitiveness.

Here, in the Great Lakes, as growing traffic congestion on the highways plagues both commerce and society, particularly in cities like Chicago, Detroit and Toronto, we have this wonderful waterway transportation network that in real terms defines Short Sea Shipping. For more than 100 years, our bulk handling operations have been the envy of the world.

Yet, although we have some shortcomings (starting with our limited lock sizes and restricted navigation season), we still have plenty of room for growth. We could be handling a far greater variety of cargoes, and we should be able to learn something from the Europeans.

Clearly, Europe is not the USA, but our problems with congestion and the environment are similar. We need to work harder to help both government and environmentalists understand and appreciate the benefits of efficient marine transportation … unless, of course, we think our congestion and pollution issues will be resolved by more highways, more blacktop, more trucks.