The European Commission has a stated policy of encouraging inter-modal transport and taking freight off the overcrowded roads of the European continent. One of the initiatives designed to achieve this objective is the Motorways of the Sea project. The key feature of this is that short sea shipping will be used as the basis for an intermodal transport system; the EU argues that the seas around Europe are an under-used resource and provide a freight transport method which is kinder to the environment and is not subject to the delays inherent in carrying cargo by road.