ABSTRACT
Short sea shipping is usually defined geographically. Transport Canada (2006) defines short sea shipping on a continental basis as ‘a multi-modal concept involving the marine transportation of passengers and goods that does not cross oceans and takes place within and among Canada, the United States and Mexico’. The European Commission (1999) defines it within Europe as ‘the movement of cargo and passengers by sea between ports situated in geographical Europe or between those ports and ports situated in non-European countries having a coastline on the enclosed seas bordering Europe’. In 2007, it was defined by law in the US (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, section 55605) as:
the carriage by vessel of cargo
(1)that is (A) contained in intermodal cargo containers and loaded by crane on the vessel; or (B) loaded on the vessel by means of wheeled technology; and
(2)that is (A) loaded at a port in the United States and unloaded either at another port in the United States or at a port in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System; or (B) loaded at a port in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System and unloaded at a port in the United States.
