Weekly News Summary For February 20-26, 2006:
Vessel and debris recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has become the largest operation of its type in the history of the Coast Guard, said Cmdr. Charley Rawson at the Greater New Orleans Port Safety Council meeting February 8. Much “bucket work” removing debris still is required.
Rawson, assistant chief of the prevention branch of Sector New Orleans, was careful not to call it a “salvage” operation, although that was essentially its nature. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) tasked the Coast Guard with the $100 million operation. Salvage is not normally a Coast Guard function.
Despite not being a “salvage” operation, members of the American Salvage Association were present at the incident command center.
More than 1,000 commercial and recreational vessels were successfully salvaged by the owners and insurance companies, including large deep-draft vessels and yachts, Rawson said. Fishing vessels, by comparison, normally carry less insurance and presented more problems for removal….
Consol Energy Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., through its subsidiary Consol Energy Sales Company Inc., has completed the purchase of the stock of Mon River Towing Inc. and JAR Barge Lines LP, Belle Vernon, Pa. The combination creates one of the largest and most experienced river operations in the area. Mon River began in 1958 and Consol traces its origin to the late 1800s when it was nicknamed the Combine. The sale was finalized January 20.
The sale merges Consol’s assets with Mon River’s and JAR’s fleet of 13 towboats (ranging from 760 to 3,200 hp.), 320 hopper barges, 18 tank barges and 150 employees to form a combined operation of 19 towboats, more than 650 barges and 280 employees.
The purchased company will continue to operate under the Mon River Towing and JAR Barge Lines names with all the same boats and people, said its former president and co-owner James Guttman, who will stay on in an advisory capacity through the transition.
“We weren’t looking to sell,” said Guttman who owned the company with two brothers, neither of whom were involved in the day-to-day operations. Wanting to increase its capacity, Consol approached Mon River, he said. “They liked the looks of our fleet and the fact that we had customers in common. They were even one of our customers. We’ve known them for a long time.”…
Two potentially devastating incidents on the Lower Mississippi River recently were reported resolved with minimal damage and no injuries.
On February 8, the lineboat Alix Anne, southbound from Baton Rouge and headed for New Orleans with 13 barges in tow, hit the Sunshine Bridge causing damage to one barge and breaking some others loose from the tow.
Officials of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) closed the bridge at 7:18 a.m. for inspection and reopened it at 9:12 a.m., said Capt. Sid Berthelot of the St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office. The bridge itself was not damaged, said Sherry Dupre, a DOTD spokesperson, according to the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans.
Lt. Todd Peterson told the Times-Picayune one of the damaged barges, which were carrying corn and grain, suffered severe damage and was moved to the west side of the river just below the bridge until the load could be transferred to another barge.
A second incident involved the break-away of a Carnival Cruise Line passenger ship which had been moored on the East Bank in New Orleans. The 855-foot Ecstasy was commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide housing for some 1,600 New Orleans police, fire department and other emergency response workers and their families. Their homes were devastated by the flood waters following Hurricane Katrina….
Bob Mallette of Budwine and Associates, Destrehan, La., working on behalf of Magnolia Marine Transportation Company, Vicksburg, Miss., said he expects the lightering process to begin any day on the asphalt barge that struck a Louisville railroad bridge on January 26.
The mv. Kelly Lee, owned and operated by Magnolia Marine, lost three of its barges in tow. Two barges, including the asphalt barge currently lying against the bridge piers, went through the McAlpine Dam spillway.
Mallette said they were in the process of making final preparations to begin heating the asphalt onboard the barge for removal.
“We’ll hook up the pumps and the heaters, and I expect the receiver barge will be ready for hookup (on February 17),” said Mallette. “We start heating operations then. It should take four days to heat it up and four days to get it out. Now it would be best-case scenario if it takes 10 weeks. We’re hoping for that.”…
In 1993, Lyle Beaubouef started his career on the river as a tankerman with Blessey Marine Services, Inc., Harahan, La. Today Beaubouef serves as captain of Blessey’s mv. Claudia Harold, a twin-screw 2,400 hp. towboat built by Kody Marine Inc., currently running on the Ohio and Lower Mississippi rivers. As a tribute to his service, Blessey Marine’s newest vessel was named in his honor. He chose to name the boat after his father, Joe Ray Beaubouef.
The christening for the Joe Ray Beaubouef took place on January 30 at Bray’s Landing in Houston, Texas. Built by Sneed Shipbuilding, Channelview, Texas, the boat’s dimensions are 75 by 30 by 10 feet. It is the 320th boat to be delivered by the father and son combo of Martin and Clyde Sneed, but the very first 75-foot boat. According to Clyde Sneed, the vessel has just about everything a typical 85-foot boat would have, including identical bunk and shower space and two refrigerators. The 10 less feet of hull was accomplished by removing an extra work room from the design, said Sneed….
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