However, higher landing and terminal costs may 
result and the trade-offs must be studied. 
Of the various nontechnical alternatives to 
channel deepening, the legal and regulatory pre- 
dominate, including restrictions to ship operation, 
channel regulation, and safety. As ship size 
increases, directional stability at low speeds 
becomes more difficult; hence, to avoid high fees 
for using tugs in channels, many ships maintain 
speed, creating a substantial wake that damages 
structures along the channel. As ship size and 
traffic in the port increase the probability of 
collisions and channel blockage also increases. 
Economic loss from total blockage and port 
shutdown is incalcuable; higher insurance costs 
and port charges are a distinct possibility. 
Large ships may create major economic prob- 
lems in regional port development. As ship size 
increases, the tendency is to concentrate cargo 
capacity at one location to the detriment of 
neighboring port facilities, causing socioeconomic 
impact on the region with predictable reaction by 
labor unions. 
The exhaustion of bulk cargo sources threatens 
ports and their regions with a shift of trade routes 
and ports of call. If the source of cargo for large 
ships is depleted and channels have been deepened 
explicitly for large ships, the huge investment in 
the channel and perhaps in the handling equip- 
ment will be wasted. If channels are not deepened 
and ship size increases, port authorities and other 
regulatory bodies may impose a progressive tax on 
large ships as an economic restraint On super sizes. 
Since depth is the most expensive variable in 
channel construction, the tax probably will be a 
function of ships’ length, beam, and draft—with 
emphasis on draft. 
As bulk ships increase in size, so will the 
inherent dangers of such hazardous cargoes as 
naptha and nitrates. Port authorities may restrict 
large hazardous cargo operations to remote areas; 
or by law they may restrict dangerous cargoes to 
ships of present sizes. 
Regional development of port systems will be 
influenced by the very nature of large ships 
coupled with advanced scheduling techniques. 
Operators of super ships may find it more profit- 
able to change the schedules and use one port 
system suitably modified for their increased capa- 
city. 
VI-120 
The high rate of ship technology development 
could make a large investment obsolete before its 
normal economic life. (For example, general eco- 
nomic lives for systems elements are: container— 
10 years, ship—25 years, terminal—SO years.) 
Therefore, it would seem advantageous to con- 
struct the facilities that have shorter economic 
lives and are easily maintained or replaced— 
pipelines, conveyor belts, long finger piers, etc. 
Other non-technical considerations would 
include the decline of the present commodity 
movements, the increasing volume of new com- 
modities, shifting trade routes, population pres- 
sures causing port systems to be reduced in size, 
safety requirements, air space requirements, pollu- 
tion, etc. 
The Coast Guard, as the Federal maritime law 
enforcement agency, has the responsibility to 
enforce Federal laws relating to water pollution. 
The Coast Guard also is responsible for enforcing 
the Oil Pollution Act of 1961 which prohibits 
offshore pollution. These are largely preventive 
measures only, and it would appear that broader 
responsibilities should be authorized. Over the 
U.S. Continental Shelf and in other Federal 
navigable waters, there is a need for this agency to 
provide greater assistance in the protection of the 
natural resources through pollution abatement and 
control. 
3. Conclusions 
The present U.S. commercial oceanborne cargo 
trade will continue to have a major impact on any 
programs designed to extend ocean uses. 
The future needs of the transportation industry 
are dependent on faster, more economical ships, 
possibly nuclear powered, that will allow the U.S. 
to become a leader in world shipping once again. 
Technological advances, automation, and need 
for economy of operation are penetrating water- 
borne shipping business at a very rapid pace. Asa 
result, port authorities must stand ready to create 
such new port facilities as deep water terminals or 
offshore unloading terminals with automated han- 
dling equipment for new large bulk cargo carriers. 
Progress in marine transportation is leading 
rapidly to larger, deeper draft, bulk carriers and 
high speed ships with improved cargo handling 
systems such as containers and lighters. The 
impact of containerization on the efficiency of 
