Global Ship Capacity: Are there enough ships to protect our
ports from sea level rise?
Global Ship Capacity:Are there enough ships to protect our ports
from sea level rise?Leigh HammelMarch 10, 2010CEE 129Ship
RequirementsLooking at approximately 150 ports worldwideAt least 2
specialty ships per portPlus accessory barges and tugboats,
approximate at 3
(150 2) (3 150) 750 ships world wide
Within the USApproximately 75 ports
We need:150 specialty ships225 accessory ships
What do we have?As a nation (approx): 6200 tugboats and
towboats3200 barges
Accessory ships
http://www.canalmuseum.com/canalphotos/tugboat-08.jpgSpecialty
ShipsUSACE 3Manson (SF Bay) 4General Construction - 5Cosco (China)
4-8
3 companies X fleet of 4 = 12 ships per regionRegions:Pacific
NorthwestSF Bay/Northern CASouthern CA Florida/Gulf of
MexicoNortheastApproximately 60 ships within the US 90 ship deficit
Ships around the worldChina is the next largest producer of
specialty ships in the worldIf the US does not have enough ships
for ourselves, and China is producing less ships, there will be a
deficit there tooOther countries with high ship
production:NetherlandsUKBangladeshThese countries have less demand
for specialty ships, so nationally may have a sufficient amount,
but globally still a deficitlimitationsThe majority of these ships
can only lift up to 150-200 tons, this is only 1/5 of the capacity
of the Oosterschelde dams shipsRequiring only 2 ships per site is a
generous assumption the Oosterchelde dam had 5Replacing ships it
takes approximately two years to build new ships, and each facility
can usually build 2-5 at a time
