IV-308 



area and to provide a network for distribution. Since major refin- 

 ery operations are part of the proposed plans, this development will 

 include pipelines and associated petro-chemical facilities, and other 

 modes of land transport. Such a free port could have far-reaching 

 effects on the present distribution of cargo tonnages at east coast 

 ports as well as develop an estharlne area which is now relatively 

 pristine. 



Another factor which could significantly affect the trade distribution 

 of all ports 1s the development of the suoer-tanks and larger dry 

 cargo vessels. These carriers require up to sixty-foot channel and 

 berthing depths. This will call for an enormous dredqing operation 

 in most ports, where maximum dredged channel depth now is around forty 

 feet. Some places, like New York, have already been dredged to bed- 

 rock level, so blasting would be necessary to go deeper. An alterna- 

 tive solution is to establish offshore dockina facilities for the 

 super-ships and bring their cargoes ashore through pipelines or in 

 lighter-type ships. The bottom clearance requirements of these ships 

 are considerably smaller, which would mean far less dredging for chan- 

 nel maintenance. However, the current world merchant fleet will no 

 doubt continue to operate for at least another 20 years, which means 

 that channels would have to be maintained at least until this genera- 

 tion of shins has been phased out. 



It has also been suggested that a decrease in the number of ports 

 might prove more economical in the handling of the suoer fleet because 



