The U.S. Maritime Administration recently awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects nationwide via the agency’s America’s Marine Highway Program or AMHP.
[Above photo via MoDOT]
MARAD said that funding helps address supply chain disruptions, enhances the movement of goods along the country’s navigable waterways, and expands existing waterborne freight services in 11 states: Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods, more quickly and more efficiently,” said Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, in a statement.
“In this moment of record demand for goods and shipping, this is an important piece of the [Biden] administration’s Port Action Plan to strengthen supply chains, modernize port operations, and lower the cost of goods for American families,” he added.
USDOT said the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA – enacted in November – provides an additional $25 million to support marine highway projects and to increase the use of American waterways for freight shipments.
Since its inception in 2007, the AMHP has designated 52 marine highway projects and, since 2016, MARAD has issued $44.6 million in funding for grants under the AMHP.
To date, a total of 24 eligible marine highway projects have received AMHP grants to further improve the U.S. transportation system and national security by adding to the country’s strategic sealift resources and providing transportation alternatives, including during times of disaster or national emergency, MARAD said.
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