T. Parker Host, a Norfolk maritime company, is seeking federal seed money to run shipping containers from Norfolk to the Port of Richmond, bypassing congested highways — Interstate 64 and U.S. 460 — out of Hampton Roads. According to the Associated Press, the proposed James River Barge Line would move at least 5,000 containers the first year, with a goal of shipping 250,000 annually on two barges making trips twice a week.
Said U.S. Maritime Administration Administrator Sean T. Connaughton (the former chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors): “They have a very good business plan. It’s becoming more and more difficult to build our way out of this congestion. So using our waterways makes an enormous amount of sense.”
Although T. Parker Host anticipates that the business would become profitable, it is not willing to shoulder the anticipated start up costs of the first year, which could amount to $750,000.