Capsule News Summary For January 24–30, 2005:
High water throughout the inland waterways system has caused the U. S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Offices to implement a number of navigation notices and restrictions on several waterways.
The Illinois River, mid-Mississippi River and Lower Mississippi have all had high waters in recent days. As officials have kept an eye on the rising water, they have met with industry personnel to develop procedures for safe transit including restrictions on minimum towboat horsepower required, number of barges allowed in tow and pre-identifying areas for laying-up in preparation for river closure, to name a few.
Lt. Anthony Carbajal, spokesman for the MSO-Memphis, said recent high water has caused a safety zone for the Lower Mississippi River to be instituted from Mile 505 to Mile 882. Vessels downbound with tow sizes of more than 36 barges or vessels with less then 240 hp. Rating per barge are prohibited from entering the zone. That safety zone is in effect until the Memphis gauge is below 31 feet….
Catlettsburg, Ky.—River levels were gradually falling throughout the upper Ohio River valley after two weeks of abnormally high river levels. Strong storm systems had dumped rain along the length of the valley, resulting in rising pool levels and "all out" dam conditions the first week of January.
As reported in The Waterways Journal of January 17, the first of several incidents on the Ohio River began in the early morning hours of January 6 when a group of breakaway barges was carried down onto the dam at Pike Island, Mile 84.3. As that news was filtering out, another accident occurred as the upbound mv. Jon J. Strong was departing Belleville Locks, Mile 204, with a tow of 12 loads. Nine of the Strong's barges broke out of tow and rounded the end of the river guidewall, and the swift current swept them onto the face of the dam. Three of the barges sank immediately, two went through the tainter gate bays, and four remained afloat but lodged on the dam.
The two barges that had made it through the dam were caught by two separate upbound tows that had been alerted to the incident. A short while later one of the lodged barges broke loose, swept through the dam and was caught by a third vessel. One of the remaining lodged barges broke free the next day to be retrieved by the Strong, and yet another eventually sank….
The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office-Chicago is currently investigating a petroleum barge explosion that occurred on January 19 in Chicago.
A deckhand who was on the 295-foot barge at the time of the incident is missing and presumed dead. The Chicago Tribune named the crewmember as Alex Oliva. Search operations were suspended late on January 19.
Coast Guard spokesman Wayne Reed said the incident happened at approximately 5 p.m. at Cicero and 44th Street in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The transiting barge was carrying 588,000 gallons of clarified slurry oil from the Exxon-Mobil facility in Joliet, Ill.
The barge that exploded, caught fire and eventually sank was towed by the mv. Lisa E, an 800 hp. towboat. Lemont-based Egan Marine Corporation owns the boat, which was not damaged in the incident. Reed said he did not know if other barges were in tow.
Television and newspaper reports described the explosion and ensuing fire as "violent" and "massive." Debris was reported to have been blown onto Cicero Avenue, snarling rush hour traffic….
Despite recent snow and rain across much of the upper Missouri River basin, drought continues to plague the area, forcing reservoir levels to record lows, the Corps of Engineers reported last week.
"Storage in the reservoir system ended 2004 at an all-time record low," said Larry Cieslik, chief of the Northwestern Engineer Division's water management office in Omaha, Neb.
Reservoir storage ended December at 35.2 million acre feet (maf.), down 500,000 acre feet during the month and 19.3 maf. below normal. Last year at this time it was 38.7 maf.
Runoff into the reservoir system for all of 2004 was 16.6 maf., just 66 percent of the long-term average. Normal runoff is 25.2 maf. Last year was the fifth consecutive year of below-normal runoff.
As of January 1, the mountain snowpack was 70 percent of normal in the reach above Fort Peck Dam and 77 percent in the reach from Fort Peck to Garrison Dam.
"Even if we get normal precipitation, we expect to get well-below-normal runoff due to the dry soil conditions throughout the basin," Cieslik said. "Our runoff forecast for 2005 is 18.7 maf. of runoff, which is 74 percent of normal."…
Owensboro (Ky.) Riverport Authority announced last week that it has been listed as a warehouse company for the London Metal Exchange's North American Special Aluminum Alloy Contract (NASAAC). The port will serve as a physical delivery point and storage facility of A380.1 aluminum alloy traded on the London exchange through its operation of a warehouse complex capable of handling product via rail, truck and barge.
The port operates 800,000 square feet of covered warehouse space and is a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone. The port currently serves as a delivery point for the primary aluminum contract traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and is well-known for its role in establishing the shipment of Russian A7E aluminum into the Midwest.
With a modified A380.1 specification, this aluminum alloy contract was developed by the London exchange following discussions with all segments of the North American secondary aluminum industry including consumers, secondary smelters, scrap dealers, traders and merchants.
The specification reflects the production and consumption of aluminum alloy in the United States and is restricted to delivery points within a defined geographic region—the first such London Metal Exchange contract to do so. In particular, the major automotive manufacturers and their suppliers worked with the exchange to develop the regional contract to provide globally accepted pricing, hedging against risks arising from movements in non-ferrous base metal pricing, and the opportunity to take physical delivery of metal from storage facilities.
Aluminum alloy is used for the production of lightweight engine parts and its use has grown steadily in recent years….
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