Maritime Corridor Trace Analysis for Addressing Safety, Security, and Asset Management of Inland Waterway Transportation Networks

Worldwide population increase, the associated expansion of consumer demand, and the distribution of natural resources, manufacturing capabilities, and regionally unique and desired goods have driven the growth of international shipping. The primary method of intercontinental shipment is by maritime vessels. Shipping growth trends have given rise to the production of more and bigger vessels to meet the demand. Cascading effects include intensified demand on intermodal infrastructure for domestic transportation of these goods and commodities. The most widely used of these are roadway transportation networks, followed by rail, and then maritime. Maritime transportation networks may be the most suited for accommodating the growing demand. Research has described the maritime transportation on inland waterways as the safest, most cost efficient, and most environmentally sustainable of the three intermodal transportation modes. The safety assessment of inland waterway transportation networks may be reflected in the underutilization of this mode compared to the others. An increased reliance on maritime transportation as well as other emergent and future conditions may disrupt this desirable status. A move to use of cleaner fuels for maritime vessels may promote greater environmental sustainability, but may be accompanied by an increase in hazardous commodities transiting the waterways for import and export. The introduction of autonomously capable vessels may limit maritime accidents by reducing the effects of human error, but could impact the use of the waterway by other stakeholders and have security implications in the face of potential threats. This dissertation develops and tests a methodology (the “Maritime Corridor Trace Analysis”) that supports enterprise risk management along an inland waterway transportation corridor, with particular emphasis on the shoreline assets, variety of stakeholders, and other features of the system environment for maritime commerce. Demonstrations facilitate a sequential introduction of (i) safety risk factors, (ii) security risk factors, and (iii) methods for risk and resilience-based asset management. The approach extends previous, roadway transportation network applications of the corridor trace analysis methodology. The approach is of interest to enterprise operators associated with the shipment of freight on maritime transportation networks. The methodology is transferable across applications of systems engineering and risk analysis with multiple factors impacting a flow or otherwise linearizable system operation. Fields include commerce, environment, public utilities, technological development, project management, and others.