Coastal Energy Transportation Study. Phase 3. Volume 4. The Potential for Wide-Beam, Shallow-Draft Ships to Serve Coal and Other Bulk Commodity Terminals Along the Cape Fear River

摘要

Many U.S. ports face the dilemma of deepening harbors and approach channels to accommodate deep draft vessels, especially supertankers and large dry bulk carriers. In most locations, channel dredging simply is not feasible because of costs or environmental problems. An option to dredging that is beginning to receive serious consideration embraces the design and operation of a fleet of bulk carriers whose wider beam provides an increase in deadweight tonnage over 'conventional' vessels with the same draft. A technical assessment previously prepared for the U.S. Maritime Administration revealed no major technological constraints to the construction of shallow draft ships. This report evaluated the possibility of utilizing such vessels on the lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina where several export coal terminals have been proposed.