[QUOTE=z-drive;146115]Also, I should clarify that the big atb’s like Crowley/osg are definitely bullshit rule beaters. But Bouchard Reinauer Kirby Etc where barges have traditionally been that size in that trade they’re just doing what they always have in a more reliable way.
They still save on assist boats as well except
For those Crowley guys who use one to tie up the tug itself.
One bullshit thing against government regulations though is that a double hulled ATB (twin screw, us crew, recency/pilotage) has to take an escort tug through buzzards bay/cape cod canal but a laden tanker (single screw/rudder foreign crew) doesn’t? that irritates the piss out of me whenever I see it.[/QUOTE]
Why does any particular coastwise “look” the way it does. The main factors are:
- Environmental factors (distance between ports, depths, weather. type of cargo)
- Costs of the vessel, Jones act requirement that ships must be U.S. built.
- Costs of labor
- Regulations
Look at the Alaska fisheries trade. U.S. law allows uninspected vessels (I think up to 500 tons) to serve the Alaskan fisheries. That trade is mostly done by small ships.
I think that if tugs / barges and small vessels of the same capacity faced the same regulatory regime you would see far more small ships and far fewer tug/barges in the U.S. coastwise trade. Vessels would be shaped more by the demands of the sea and less by unequal regulations.