Chapter IV 

 TRANSPORTATION 



Efficient maritime transportation depends on ships that can be 

 operated economically and safely. Essential elements include 

 modern, well-equipped ships, adequate ports or shipping terminals, 

 smoothly operating vessel traffic systems, and accurate navigation 

 charts. 



Since World War II the United States has increasingly relied on 

 vessels of foreign registry to transport its foreign trade goods. In 

 recent years, hov^ever, a major effort has been made to modernize the 

 U.S. merchant fleet. Other efforts have been launched to improve our 

 ports and navigation systems to meet the needs of the large, deep- 

 draft bulk carriers now in use. 



Ship Construction and Operation 



New shipbuilding activity under the President's Maritime 

 Program for the 1970's has laid the groundwork for attaining the goal 

 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970: the establishment of an 

 economically competitive U.S. -flag fleet composed of the best 

 equipped, safest, and most efficient vessels for domestic and foreign 

 waterborne commerce. 



Since the passage of the Act, contracts have been awarded for the 

 construction of 52 new ships and the conversion of 16 conventional 

 freighters to container carriers. The new ship construction program 

 featured the following: 



— tankers varying in size from 35,000 to 265,000 deadweight tons, 

 including the first 9 very large crude carriers (VLCC's) over 

 200,000 deadweight tons ever built in the United States; 



— the first fleet of technologically advanced liquefied natural gas 

 (LNG) carriers; 



The LASH vessel, Delta Mar, delivered in 1973, was the first ship built under the 

 Merchant Marine Act of 1 970. Each LASH vessel is part of a complete transpor- 

 tation system. Barges can be loaded inland, towed down river, lifted aboard 

 ship, transported to another port, and towed up river to their destination. 



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