Only a safe, efficient, and environmentally sound maritime transportation system will support economic productivity, provide security, and facilitate overseas trade. Yet, management of America's waterways has been fragmented. The Coast Guard will spearhead a Department of Transportation effort to coordinate a national initiative that will invigorate America's waterways. With this leadership, the United States will achieve a seamless maritime transportation system that will enhance prosperity and security into the next century. Achieving balance in finite waterways will require a renaissance in coordinated private and government services.
Congested channels present significant public-safety challenges.
Burgeoning trade and coastal populations, coupled with bigger ships and the dangers posed by hazardous cargo movements, require upgrading the Nation's waterways system and overhauling the present decentralized waterways management infrastructure. The Coast Guard will play a central role in ensuring these goals are met. More than 95 percent of U.S. foreign trade tonnage, excluding that to Canada and Mexico, will continue to move by ship. Twenty-five percent of domestic goods will be shipped by water, and half the Nation's oil will arrive by sea. U.S. global economic competitiveness and the safety and security of all Americans will depend on the effectiveness with which the Coast Guard manages the demands of growing seaborne trade.