Marine Transportation is three times more environmentally friendly than rail and 14 times better than trucks because it uses less fuel, has fewer emissions, is safer and has very low noise levels compared to other modes of transportation.

Shipping by water requires only 10% to 20% of the energy required by road. On a single litre of fuel, one tonne of freight can travel 240 km by ship. By train, the distance drops to less than 100 km and by truck, to less than 30 km. One ship with a typical capacity of 25,000 metric tones is equivalent to 225 rail cars and 875 trucks.

Ships emit one tenth the greenhouse gas of trucks and half that of trains (in grams/tonne-kilometre).

In addition to saving on costs, superior fuel efficiency in the marine mode translates into fewer emissions. In 1997, heavy trucks produced 27 % of Canadian greenhouse gases, while marine transport produced only 4.7 % of such emissions.

The Provincial Government wants to build a “culture of conservation.” Marine transportation can play a key role in that strategy.