SeaBridge Temporarily Halts Operations

This story appears in the Dec. 13 print edition of Transport Topics.

SeaBridge Freight Corp., which provides barge service across the Gulf of Mexico supported by $3.34 million in federal grants earlier this year, has halted operations, at least until early next year.

The Port of Brownsville, Texas, located on the U.S.-Mexico border, and Port Manatee, Fla., near Tampa, received the money in September to pay for modifications to SeaBridge’s single operating barge and add another one to its service between the ports.

The funds were the largest single grant under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $7 million America’s Marine Highway Program, the new name for a concept called “short-sea shipping” that promotes freight moves by barge instead of highway.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood touted the program in September as “an intelligent way to relieve some of the biggest challenges we face in transportation — congestion on our roads, climate change, fossil fuel energy use and soaring road maintenance costs.”

SeaBridge President Hank Hoffman, who said the service would resume next month, told Transport Topics the service hiatus was caused by the combination of a business slowdown and the absence of action on regulatory approvals by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The cross-Gulf sailings stopped in mid-November, Hoffman said, and none of the federal money has been spent yet. The federal funds aren’t meant to pay operating costs.

The Federal Maritime Administration, which awarded the money, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

SeaBridge began moving freight 900 miles between Brownsville and Port Manatee two years ago, bidding to tap the Mexican manufacturing market. The water route is about one-third shorter than the highways around the Gulf.

SeaBridge, once a privately held company, in September used a device called a “reverse merger” to acquire control of publicly traded TrinityCare Senior Living in a bid to raise capital and attract investment. TrinityCare became a public company when it bought out J-Kan Inc., an Arkansas barbecue restaurant.

Hoffman told TT that SEC approvals have taken longer than anticipated. He didn’t say what specific regulatory approvals were needed.

SEC spokesman John Heine said he couldn’t comment on SeaBridge’s case, saying only that the agency reviews all filings for compliance with federal law and that filers are responsible for providing accurate and complete information.

In a November regulatory filing, SeaBridge said it was “actively engaged in discussions with investors to provide funding necessary to execute its long-term strategy.”

Hoffman also wouldn’t say whether the company needs regulatory approval of its reverse merger in order to get financing for future operations.

“We continue to be enormous proponents for the Marine Highway concept,” Hoffman said. “It does not compete with trucks. It complements what trucks do. I am really confident that will be the case in the long run.”

“Our customers are fine with [the service hiatus],” Hoffman said. “They understand.”

Port of Brownsville spokesman Manuel Ortiz told TT that “we are confident that the short-sea operation is one that is going to be viable for years to come. We look forward to expanding this operation with our partners.”

“We have great confidence in the service route and we are committed to the carrier,” said Jill VanderPol, a Port Manatee spokeswoman. 

SeaBridge has said it believes a single barge carrying 300 containers per trip saves 4 million gallons of diesel fuel a year, reduces highway miles traveled by 29 million and cuts emissions by 54 million pounds a year.

Hoffman told TT in September that the company planned to put the second barge in operation in February (click here for previous story).

The goal was weekly service in each direction. Until the service was suspended, the barge had a 10-day rotation with four days’ travel in each direction and one day in each port.

The rest of the federal “short-sea shipping” money was used to support an existing barge service in Virginia on the James River and development of services in the New York area, on the Tennessee River and along the East Coast.