Weekly News Summary For February 7–13, 2005:
After many stressful days for towing companies, crews, shippers, salvage operators, the Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard and other concerned individuals, Belleville Locks at Mile 204 Ohio River were back in operation as of 6 a.m. on February 1. The last section of barge that had been blocking gate bay 3 was removed on January 31, and the dam tainter gates were positioned to begin refilling the pool.
The problems at Belleville began on the morning of January 6 when nine loaded barges broke off the tow of an upbound boat departing the main chamber upbound. The dam was in an "all out" condition, with the gates in the raised position. Ultimately four barges sank on the dam, and three of these were virtually wrapped around the piers of the dam, blocking five of the eight gate bays. The Belleville Locks were closed to other traffic as the immediate situation was addressed, and before any tows could pass, the river rose above the maximum locking stage, resulting in a closure due to high water.
The river fell to the point that locking could resume on January 10. Equipment and crews of River Salvage Company arrived and began planning the salvage strategy, and equipment of Okie Moore Diving & Salvage was en route at that time.
Due to the blockage of the tainter gates, the dam was unable to hold back the river level, and the upper gauge at Belleville fell below the 12-foot normal pool level on the morning of January 11. With the river falling more rapidly than anticipated, Corps officials at Belleville were faced with the reality that the pool might indeed be lost, and suspended locking while further assessments were made….
The Ports of Indiana moved 7.6 million tons of cargo across its docks in 2004, a 35 percent increase from 2003. It was the highest annual tonnage volume for Indiana's ports since 1998.
Overall, Indiana's ports saw significant increases over last year in steel (up 88 percent), coal (up 52 percent), miscellaneous-project cargo (up 33 percent) and grain (up 32 percent). The ports handled 686,000 tons in December of 2004, which was the sixth-consecutive month that tonnage exceeded 600,000. That had only happened three times in the ports' 34-year history.
The state port system includes three ports: Southwind Maritime Center at Mount Vernon, Clark Maritime Center at Jeffersonville; and Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor at Portage….
The Lower Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Miss., has become a treacherous stretch with swift currents as a result of high water as three tows have struck the Interstate 20 Bridge, Mile 435.7, and Highway 80 Bridge/Kansas City Southern Railroad Bridge, Mile 435.8.
As of February 3, the river crested at 44 feet, one foot above flood stage. According to Coast Guard officials, it is the highest the river has been in Vicksburg since 1999.
The allisions involved the mv. Dan MacMillan, owned by American River Transportation Company (ARTCO) and pushing 29 barges, on January 24; the mv. Joyce Hale, owned by ARTCO and pushing 22 barges on January 27; and the mv. Hortense B. Ingram, owned by Ingram Barge Company, pushing 24 barges on February 2….
The heavy-lift capabilities of both the Port of New Orleans and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa were tested recently, when a 583-metric ton reactor was shipped from Japan to Oklahoma.
The reactor, which will be used to remove sulfur from diesel fuel and gasoline, was built in Japan and shipped to Valero Ardmore Refinery in Ardmore, Okla., on a route that included the Lower Mississippi River and the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The cylindrical steel reactor measures 101 feet long and 18 feet in diameter with a wall thickness of eight inches.
The reactor was built in Japan and shipped to the Port of New Orleans on the vessel Rickmers Singapore. The Rickmers Pearl String Service is an eastbound, round-the-world service consisting of nine sister ships. One of them calls on New Orleans every two weeks. Rickmers began phasing in the new shipping service to the Port of New Orleans about two years ago. This was one of the heaviest pieces of cargo to be shipped by them to date….
Thirty and counting is the current number of towboats in the seemingly ever-expanding fleet of Eckstein Marine Service LLC, Harahan, La. Nos. 27 and 28 were the St. Joseph and Sainte Marie, which were put into service in late 2003 (see WJ February 9, 2004). The 29th vessel was the Randy Eckstein, which was delivered in mid-2004 (see WJ November 15).
Eckstein took delivery of its 30th towboat, the Father Seelos, December 2. Hulls No. 31 and 32 are scheduled for completion during the third quarter of this year.
Named for a popular local priest in New Orleans, the Father Seelos is nearly identical to the others. It was designed by Corning Townsend, CT Marine, Rowayton, Conn., and built by Quality Shipyards, Houma, La.
The 74- by 33-foot towboat has a hull depth of 10 feet and a pilothouse eyelevel of 30 feet. It is designed to operate at a 7.5-foot draft.
The 2,000 hp. boat is powered by twin Caterpillar 3508 diesel engines that were supplied by Louisiana Machinery Power Systems, Belle Chasse, La….
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