Weekly News Summary For March 1–7, 2009:
All four heavy-tow pilots who initially responded to questions from The Waterways Journal contend it is dangerous to allow an aggregate transfer crane barge to remain in place as rising waters require flanking a point on the Lower Mississippi River.
The aggregate loading operation is situated at Lower Mississippi River Mile 234.1, between Wilkinson Point and the Upper Baton Rouge (Hwy. 190) Bridge.
The Corps of Engineers issues permits for that type of operation and defers to the Coast Guard on navigational safety issues. The Coast Guard consults industry groups for its input.
Lt. Cmdr. Ray Lechner, commander of the Marine Safety Unit-Baton Rouge (MSU-BR), said the Wilkinson Point issue has been one of the most challenging of his first command. Lechner said in this case, the competing right of a landowner using his property is juxtaposed against the navigational safety of heavy tows.
The Waterways Journal received a complaint about a permit change at the location and asked several heavy-tow pilots for their opinions of an Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) issued by Capt. Edwin Stanton, commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. The MSIB announced conditional changes to be implemented on a temporary basis allowing an aggregate transfer crane barge to remain spudded down on location while the Mississippi River rises up to 30 feet on the Baton Rouge gauge.
The temporary permit change was granted to gather hard evidence as to the safety of the operation, Lechner said. To that end, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) granted permission to allow Martin Marietta Materials Inc. to mount surveillance cameras on the Hwy. 190 Bridge to record tow transits for playback….
AEP River Operations, Chesterfield, Mo., recently expanded its fleet of covered hopper barges with the acquisition of all of the barges of Olympic Marine Company, St. Louis, Mo. The transaction, which was finalized February 21, consists of approximately 140 barges, all with 14-foot hulls.
“This growth in fleet size gives AEP River Operations the opportunity to increase service capability for both grain and bulk customers,” said Mark Stoppel, AEP’s manager of marketing and sales. “These high cube barges will increase the utilization of the three Lower Mississippi River line haul boats we recently acquired (see WJ, September 14, 2009), and will further our goal of having one of the newest and highest quality barge fleets in today’s market.”
The barges have an average age of eight years and are expected to be delivered to AEP over the next two months.
AEP River Operations operates more than 60 towboats and 20 harbor vessels, and more than 3,000 barges. Last year, the barge line shipped 70 million tons of cargo.
Olympic Marine Company was founded in 1990 by Don Leeker, previously vice president of marine operations for Consolidated Grain & Barge Company. Initially focused on crewing and operating harbor boats, the company expanded into barge operations with the purchase of several barges and the addition of a number of investor-owned barges. At the end of 1994, Olympic was operating approximately 50 covered hopper barges.
Peter Frane joined the company from a banking background as a partner in 1995. At the same time, Olympic built its first 14-foot-hull barge….
A lot of flexibility, a determination to avoid unproductive controversy, a laser focus on their unique mission, and a win-win approach to land conservation have enabled American Land Conservancy to forge a distinct path among environmental organizations. It’s a path that is leading ALC’s leaders to the doors of barge and towing companies, where they are finding willing partners for their brand of conservation.
“ALC was the first environmental group to recognize the value of collaboration with MARC 2000, and had the courage to work with us to shift from the traditional win-lose paradigm that plagued river politics for so long,” said Paul Rohde, vice president of the Waterways Council Inc.
It was also the first conservation organization to buy a table at a meeting of the Waterways Council Inc., in 2007.
ALC is expanding its outreach through a recently formed Council of Advisers, which had its first meeting January 20. Members came from a broad cross section of disciplines, including the river industry, banking, transportation, federal resource management, and other private businesses. Private landowners are also represented on the council.
Founded in 1990, the American Land Conservancy’s mission is “to conserve landscapes for the benefit of people and wildlife.” That phrase, “people and wildlife,” is simple but contains one of the keys to ALC’s success. ALC wants to conserve landscapes that not only have high ecological value, but can also be enjoyed by the public, whenever possible. The goal is not to protect the outdoors against people, but to encourage their involvement….
An acute shortage of barge fleeting space, particularly for red-flag barges, and resulting congestion on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and the Port of Houston led to a navigation operations safety meeting on February 19.
A voluntary barge staging protocol was developed at the meeting. Industry representatives are seeking comments on the protocol before March 1; it could become effective on that date.
The shortage is resulting in navigational safety concerns with the overcrowding of mooring buoys at Bolivar and Pelican Cut, along with channel encroachment safety issues on the San Jacinto River, said Raymond Butler, executive director of the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA).
Industry representatives, along with officials of the Port of Houston, are attempting to work out an acceptable solution. The Coast Guard attended the safety meeting and “will soon have to exercise force if we are unable to handle this issue ourselves by removing the navigation safety issues that have resulted,” Butler said in an e-mail.
Walt Kleczowski and Mike Schubert from the Port of Houston attended the meetings and “agreed to see if something could be worked out,” he said. “We will know about their capability to help within the next week or so. We are trying for a “win-win” solution that helps both the port and our need for fleeting space,” Butler added in thanking the “port for considering what they may be able to do.”…
The 84-year-old sternwheeler Becky Thatcher sank at its Ohio River moorings at Neville Island during the night of February 19, and is apparently a total loss, the Marietta (Ohio) Times reported.
The boat sank in about 10 feet of water, and part of the upper two decks had collapsed onto the main deck. Owner Jeff Levin told the Times that the vessel was not salvageable. Since he had only liability insurance on it, he planned to recoup some of his investment by selling the metal hull and other parts.
The Thatcher was towed to Pittsburgh in October 2009, after the city of Marietta had threatened legal action against Levin; the boat had been vacant since 2006, city officials feared there would be liability issues if it sank at the city’s moorings….
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