Weekly News Summary For January 30 - February 5, 2006:
A stretch of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway remained closed from Mile 170.5-171.5 as of January 25 as salvage operations were being conducted after a 264-foot barge transporting limestone partially sank at Mile 171 on January 24, a few miles west of Forked Island Bridge.
Lt. Cmdr. Rick Paciorka, chief of waterways at Marine Safety Unit-Morgan City, said the integrated tow and barges were proceeding westbound when the lead barge buckled.
“The bow and stern are above the waterline, and the middle of the barge and limestone are underwater, resting on the bottom of the ditch,” Paciorka said. “It is like a banana.”
The Coast Guard opened the waterway for one-way, singlewide transits later in the day on January 24. Paciorka said with the help of industry and Corps of Engineers, surveys were completed that indicated that there was a nine- to 10-foot depth.
“We were able to pass a few tows at that time, but most of the tows out there need a greater depth that that,” said Paciorka. “The majority of the tows need in excess of 10 feet. Up at Leland Bowman Lock, there were 21 westbound tows and about six eastbound tows that were just pushing into the side of the ditch.”
The partially submerged barge is owned and operated by Lalande Towing Operators LLC of Iberia, La. The barge was part of a configuration that included the mv. Ms. Angel and two barges that were wired together in a semi-permanent arrangement (See WJ, October 24, 2005). The vessel was commissioned in December 2005….
Trinity Industries announced its Trinity Marine subsidiary reached a long-term agreement to provide barges to Ingram Barge Company on January 12.
The contract calls for the construction of dry cargo units for a number of years. The terms were not disclosed except that the agreement protects Trinity with cost escalation coverage….
President Bush has nominated Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen to be the next commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, succeeding Adm. Thomas H. Collins.
Bush also nominated David C. Sanborn to be the next maritime administrator, filling a vacancy now being handled by Deputy Administrator John E. Jamian.
Allen currently serves as chief of staff for the Coast Guard. He also served as the principal federal official overseeing Hurricane Katrina response and recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region.
Allen previously served as commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, Fifth Coast Guard District, and the U.S. Maritime Defense Zone, Atlantic Fleet. In addition, he led the Atlantic forces in the Coast Guard’s response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Prior to that position, Allen commanded the Seventh Coast Guard District and was the Director of Resources for the Coast Guard. Earlier in his career, Allen served as group commander and captain of the port for Long Island Sound in Long Island, N.Y….
James Marine Inc. announced January 25 that it had signed a letter of intent to purchase the assets of Tennessee Valley Towing (TVT). Both companies are headquartered in Paducah, Ky.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Final closure for the transaction is set for mid-summer, with further due diligence set for the coming months….
Capt. Brian Pritchard, 37, Bay Minette, Ala, was charged with assault in the first degree for an incident January 11 aboard the mv. Tallapoosa that resulted in Capt. L.K. Davis, 65, Andalusia, Ala., being transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus, Miss., with severe head injuries.
Pritchard was released from custody on $20,000 bond on January 13.
Pickens County Sheriff David Abston said the incident occurred when Pritchard struck Davis in the eye.
“It knocked him out,” Abston said. “He woke up in a pool of his own blood.”
Abston said the circumstances surrounding the altercation originated when Davis boarded the boat in Mobile as captain, which Pritchard contested. Abston said Davis had thought about calling his employer’s office to come get him from the boat, but instead the two men continued their work on the vessel….
Furthering its expansion, Horizon Maritime LLC, Houston, Texas, put into service last month the third of a trio of new towboats the company bought in 2005. The growing firm took delivery of the 3,200 hp., retractable pilothouse towboat, named Norman P. Proehl, in December. Earlier in the year, it received two 2,000 hp vessels, Argo and Gemini.
Striking out on their own less than two years ago, Steve Proehl, Manny Seale and John Binion, all formerly of Blessey Marine Services Inc., entered the black oil trade with a fleet of five used towboats and 10 barges they purchased from Cenac Towing Company Inc. Proehl, president, entered the river business as a planning analyst for grain cooperative Agri-Trans Corporation in 1976. Seale is Horizon’s marketing director and Binion is operations director.
Horizon returned one of the boats to Cenac and bought five asphalt barges from Bollinger Marine Fabricators last year so that its fleet currently stands at seven towboats and 15 barges.
Six more 30,000-barrel, 297- by 54- by 13-foot asphalt barges are under construction at Jeffboat, for delivery in 2007, and two additional towboats are on the drawing board to go with them. One will be a 2,000 hp. boat; the other, a 2,400 hp. retractable pilothouse boat. The builders have yet to be determined….
The marine construction phase of the Wellsville Intermodal Industrial Park development is now underway at the Columbiana County Port Authority near Ohio River Mile 50.
Steel was delivered to the site in December and construction has begun on four sheet pile cells which will encapsulate the riverward foundations for an overhead bridge crane. Work under contract to Brayman Construction Company also includes additional sheet pile and pipe pile mooring structures.
The facility is designed to transload a wide range of materials including minerals, steel products and containers that move by barge, rail and truck.…
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