Weekly News Summary For March 3-9, 2008:
Following the sale of its parent company to a German insurer, M/G Transport is being spun off, as required by U.S. law. Midland Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, will sell its barge subsidiary to Brooklyn NY Holdings Inc., the firm announced February 20. The sale is expected to take place in April.
Midland is mainly a provider of specialty insurance products. Its subsidiary, American Modern Insurance Group, focuses on such markets as manufactured housing, site-built homes, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. It is being acquired by Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurers.
M/G Transport accounts for about 5 percent of Midland’s revenues. Based in Metairie, La., the company charters barges and brokers freight, working with a fleet of some 300 dry cargo barges. It also has an affiliate in St. Louis named River System Logistics Inc. M/G Transport posted a strong year in 2007, contributing an after-tax profit of 69 cents per share, compared to 26 cents per share in 2006, according to the company’s Web site.
Brooklyn NY Holdings is buying M/G Transport for $112.8 million. The purchase is not expected to affect operations, as one of its requirements is to retain the barge company’s management team led by Joseph “Jay” Hayden III, chairman, and Jack Lordo, president, both in Cincinnati. Hayden will keep a minority interest….
The Eighth Coast Guard District, which includes most of the Western Rivers and Coastal Louisiana and Texas, is investigating several recent accidents, including one fatality, to see if there is a common thread.
Capt. Timothy Close, chief of the Western Rivers Division of the district, said human factors are usually to blame for the accidents. Not only are the actions onboard the vessel considered, but also directions from dispatch offices and waterway conditions.
“Accidents are not good for the industry, the environment, or commerce,” Close said.
Investigations look for ways to prevent future accidents. He also said vessel inspections are geared to make operations safer for mariners and to prevent an operator from cutting safety-related corners to gain a competitive advantage or derive an economic benefit.
“We look for ways to prevent a minor incident from becoming a major accident in the future,” he explained. “No only does an accident affect the vessel involved, it also affects other vessels that are blocked by the accident, tying up commerce on the rivers.”
Close served as host to The Waterways Journal, at a District morning briefing for Adm. Joel Whitehead, Eighth District commander. Whitehead has encouraged industry representatives to attend a briefing to get a picture of Coast Guard operations….
History was made at Caruthersville, Mo., February 7 as Trinity Marine launched UBL #1, the first of 50 new hopper barges for United Barge Line, division of United Maritime Group.
The new 200- by 35- by 13-foot barges are duplicates of similar vessels delivered to Mid-South Towing Company and Teco Barge Line, forerunners to United Barge Line. United assumed the assets and operations of the former Teco Barge Line on December 5, 2007. In recent years Trinity has delivered 100 barges to the firm, with 50 coming during the last year.
Construction on the new barge began only three days prior to its launch, clearly an indication of the rapid-fire delivery schedule that will generate up to eight new barges per week. All the barges will be single rakes with heavily reinforced cargo boxes designed for coal, aggregate or other bulk material transportation, said Robert King, director of engineering, United Barge Line.
Several representatives from the Metropolis, Ill., towing firm drove two hours to Caruthersville to tour the highly automated barge-building facility and witness the inaugural launch. King said their presence signified the solidarity and goals of the new company….
Hunter Marine Transport Inc., Nashville, Tenn., has ordered a 4,000 hp towboat from Gulf Island Fabrication, which started cutting steel for the new boat last week at its Houma, La., shipyard.
The new boat will be a twin in size to the recently delivered towboat James H. Hunter, which measures 124 by 35 feet, but it will have 400 more horsepower from twin Caterpillar 3516 diesel engines. The rest of the power train includes Reintjes marine reduction gears having a 6.7:1 ratio, and four-blade propellers turning in CT28-style kort nozzles.
Hunter took delivery of the James H. Hunter from Quality Shipyards last fall. The company made it available to the public for tours during Paducah’s Marine Industry Day event September 29. A christening is scheduled for this spring.
The new vessel, to date unnamed, will have quarters for 12, including a guest stateroom. CT Marine designed the boat; delivery is scheduled for February 2009.
The new vessel will be the first towboat to be built by Gulf Island, which, established in 1985, is a leader in the construction of drilling and production platforms. The shipyard’s new capability, building inland marine vessels, is the responsibility of marine manager Bobby Barthel, who joined Gulf Island last year. He was previously executive vice president and general manager of Quality Shipyards….
A normal mountain snowpack is providing a glimmer of hope for better times for the system of Missouri River reservoirs, which have been hit hard by eight years of drought.
“While the snow in the mountains is encouraging, we are still forecasting only 78 percent of normal runoff this year,” said Larry Cieslik, chief of the Corps of Engineers’ water management office in Omaha, Neb. “By this time of year, we normally have about 60 percent of the peak accumulation. The low forecast is due to the relative lack of snow on the plains and the continued dry soil conditions as a result of the extended drought in the upper basin.”
The Corps is forecasting that runoff for 2008 will be 19.5 million acre feet (maf.). The mountain snowpack above Fort Peck is currently 104 percent of normal, and 98 percent in the reach between Fort Peck and Garrison, essentially the Yellowstone River basin.
The regulation of the six mainstem dams this year anticipates releasing only enough water to provide minimum navigation flows for the entire season and shortening the season by 30 to 61 days. It was shortened by 35 days last year. The actual season length will be determined by the storage level on July 1….
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