Weekly News Summary For March 13-19, 2006:
The formation of sector commands was jumpstarted after September 11 with the move of the Coast Guard from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but Lt. Gene Maestas, spokesman for the Coast Guard headquarters, said the change had been in the making for several years.
“The move to the sectors has really been a long process,” he said. “There have been a number of studies by the Coast Guard to look into this kind of thing. The process began in 1988 with a study and other studies or initiatives followed. The driving decision was September 11 and the move to DHS and the Marine Transportation Security Act. It just made sense to move the commands into the sector format.”
From deciding the move was needed to implementing the change, Maestas said it took a lot of time and coordination. Fortunately, some Coast Guard commands were organized into units that allowed for a similar structure to be studied and somewhat modeled. Maestas said that allowed the Coast Guard to see what had worked and what hadn’t with the units.
The first sector stood up in Miami on July 12, 2004. All sectors are based on Captain of the Port boundaries. All sectors are to be operational by the end of 2006, although some facility needs may prohibit a full integration of resources immediately.
In all, Maestas said there are 35 sectors that have already been established or are in the process of unifying. In the sectors that are already in operation, Maestas said the Coast Guard is satisfied with the results….
Accumulating drift continues to be a serious problem for commercial marine interests along virtually all navigable waterways, and there appears to be little progress in eliminating or reducing its impact, said Scott Noble, an industry executive who has invested uncountable hours and energy into finding a solution to the problem.
Noble is senior vice president of shore-based operations and services at Ingram Barge Company and has served as chairman of the River Industry Executive Task Force (RIETF), which serves as an important liaison between industry and government agencies dealing with navigation interests. He still serves on the organization’s board of directors. During his more than 30 years experience in various fleet and vessel management positions, Noble has experienced, first hand, the dangers and damage that result every time a high-water event occurs along the Mississippi or Ohio rivers and their navigable tributaries….
Florida Marine Transporters Inc., Mandeville, La., took delivery February 23 of the first of 25 new towboats being built at Eastern Shipbuilding Group. The boat is named Rhonda Lamulle after the company’s controller.
The new vessel measures 90 by 32 by 10 feet with an operating draft of eight feet. It has 2,600 hp. supplied by twin Caterpillar 3512B diesel engines. The engines turn 86- by 75-inch wheels through Twin Disc MG5600 reduction gears with a 5.4:1 ratio.
Its sister vessels will be identical.
The second, third and fourth towboats have been launched.
“Two more are on blocks and two others are on jigs,” said Mario Serna, project manager for the Panama City, Fla. shipyard. Succeeding vessels will be delivered every three to four weeks, he said.
Mariners sailing upstream along the Oklahoma portion of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System will soon start seeing new protective cells being installed at four bridges.
The work is the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s $15 million response to the May 26, 2002, deadly accident when a two-barge tow heading upstream struck a pier causing the collapse of a section of Interstate 40 at Mile 360.3.
Capt. William Joseph Dedmon of the Magnolia Marine towboat Robert Y. Love became incapacitated, and the tow of two empty asphalt barges veered off course into one of the support piers for the bridge, according to the National Transportation Safety Board report….
Bray Marine Inc., an Ohio River harbor service based in Florence, Ky., recently took delivery of a new harbor boat built by Serodino Inc. It is the 46th vessel of Serodino’s popular Tiger class workboat.
The 1,200 continuous power vessel is powered by Cummins KTA-19Ms with Twin Disc MG-5222, 4.06:1 gears turning 52- by 40-inch four-blade Nibral wheels furnished by Rolls-Royce Naval Marine.
The 50- by 22- by 7.5-foot hull is constructed of 3/8-inch plate throughout with 1/2-inch plate over the wheels and on the bilge knuckles. Transverse framing is seven-inch channel on 24-inch centers with three- by five- by 3/8-inch frames in the bow. The inside motor mounts are continued fore and aft as solid sheets to divide the hull into three collision compartments, three fuel tanks (5,800 gallons), engineroom, a water tank and six stern compartments. A 165-gallon lube oil tank and a 110-gallon hydraulic tank are built into the hull….
Economy Boat Store has completed its move into new facilities at its Wood River, Ill., location. Gone from Mile 198 on the Upper Mississippi River is the old GM car barge that had housed the office since its inception in the early 1950s. In its place is a three-piece unit with a modern office and dock for the fuel flats, and a high-tech grocery store.
Visitors who marveled at the 12-foot-diameter steamboat pilot wheel that hung from the ceiling of the previous office needn’t worry though. It will be removed from the office barge and returned, in time, to a conspicuous place in the new building.
“We’re trying to find someone who can get it out. It’s so big. We might have to cut it in half to make it work,” said Tom Zupan, general manager. Economy sold the old office barge to American Boat Company with the understanding that it had to return the wheel.
The “new” office barge is new in the sense that it has been totally renovated. It was originally a Corps of Engineer dredge named Ft. Gage, built in 1908. St. Louis Fuel & Supply operated out of it until 1989 when Economy Boat Store bought it, primarily for use in Wickliffe, Ky. The hull has been completely foamed.
The two-story, 198- by 45-foot structure has a storage area, crew lockers and lunchroom on the first deck. The second deck contains a modern reception area, dispatchers’ operations room, executive offices, spare offices and a conference room, all comfortably appointed. There is also a porch on one end….
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