ATBs for disaster relief?

摘要

Mike Waller ("Rapid recovery vessels," Mailbag, January 2013) had an excellent suggestion of using an RRF-type approach to disaster relief. But there may be a better way. Rather than tying up assets that must be maintained, crewed, and replaced at substantial cost, it may be wiser to use either of two approaches. The first would be to take advantage of the current boom in the use of ATBs and ITBs, building barges that would be interchangeable with barges in current operation.