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Kurt Nagle needs no introduction to MarineNews read- ers. With more than 30 years of experience in seaports and international trade, he has since 1995 served as President and Chief Executive OfÞ cer for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). Mr. Nagle began working at AAPA, the alliance of the leading public port authorities throughout the Western Hemisphere, in 1985. And, al- though some may associate him more with ÔbluewaterÕ is- sues, Nagle also knows that the health of all U.S. ports Ð including our inland waterways and tributaries Ð is also integral to the survival of AmericaÕs gateway, deepwater ports. This month, he weighs in and brings our entire in- termodal equation into focus.With regard to short-sea shipping, are bigger ports mostly focused on the Panama Canal expansion or are they thinking niche port deliveries from deep draft hubs, as well?Ports are primarily focused on ensuring that facilities and connecting infrastructure is able to efÞ ciently compet- itively handle the increasing trade volumes in the coming years. Several ports have beneÞ tted from initial develop- ment of short-sea shipping networks, while many others are engaged in the effort to expand short-sea shipping as a viable alternative to moving goods via truck and rail along some of the busiest freight corridors. Short-sea shipping is one of a number of ways ports are working to become more competitive. While the Panama Canal expansion is a major and highly visible project, Panama itself is under- taking the expansion to maintain its competitiveness due to the global trade growth, increasing vessel sizes in the world ß eet, dynamic trading patterns and other factors. Other countries are doing the same, and itÕs critical for the United States to improve its transportation infrastructure, particularly in and around its seaports on all our coasts and the Great Lakes, to maintain and enhance U.S. interna- tional competitiveness. The canal expansion is but one of many factors driving infrastructure improvement projects. There are many other factors, including a growing popula- tion, increased demand for goods, new trade agreements, global competition and dynamic trade lanes. ItÕs critical that investments in transportation infrastructure be made today to ensure that we can support the movement of overseas and domestic cargo now and into the future. In the U.S., ports are responsible for developing facilities to handle more than 99% of this nationÕs overseas cargo by INSIGHTSKurt J. NaglePresident and Chief Executive Of Þ cer Association of Port Authorities June 201310 MNMN June2013 Layout 1-17.indd 10MN June2013 Layout 1-17.indd 105/30/2013 11:04:55 AM5/30/2013 11:04:55 AM
