Weekly News Summary For March 31 - April 6, 2008:
Working hard to foster the growing relationship between the Coast Guard and the commercial marine industry, Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen issued a directive to “boarding team members, marine inspectors, port state control examiners, facility examiners and their supervisors” to “encourage open communication with mariners and other members of industry.”
“Licensed and documented mariners are professionals who share our interest in a safe, secure, and environmentally compliant industry,” Adm. Allen said. He quoted Alexander Hamilton’s charge, “To keep in mind that our countrymen are free men, and as such are impatient of everything that bears the least mark of a domineering spirit.”
The commandant’s remarks were initiated by “reports I have received from highly respected professionals recounting Coast Guard boardings, inspections, and investigations not displaying professionalism. Additionally, some have said they lost the complete trust they once had in the Coast Guard and are fearful of retribution if they challenge the Coast Guard’s conduct.”
In urging a change in this perception, Adm. Allen said America’s position in the global economy, public and environmental safety, and post-9/11 security is at stake.
“The need for maritime industry-government cooperation and partnership has never been more important,” he said. “The Coast Guard’s obligation to the safety and security of America is shared by the maritime industry and enhanced by working cooperatively with industry at all levels. Openness and transparency will be the hallmarks of our maritime interaction.”…
The St. Louis Engineer District was forced to close Upper Mississippi River Lock 25 last week after lock operators discovered the anchorage system of the lower miter gate was degraded.
Lock 25 is located at Mile 241.4, near Winfield, Mo., and consists of a single 600- by 110-foot chamber. The lock was built in 1939.
The problem with the gate anchorages was first discovered about two weeks ago. Essentially, the gate anchorages are original equipment, although new—and somewhat heavier—gates were installed in the late 1990s. At that time, doubler plates were added to help support the additional weight of the new gates, but those plates are failing now, and the problem has gotten worse since it was initially discovered.
To make the repair, the Corps has to have a crane barge to support the weight of the miter gate leaf. The St. Louis District’s crane barge has been in St. Paul for the winter to assist in work at Lock 3, but the district has the Rock Island District’s crane Hercules on hand. The Hercules was scheduled to go back to Rock Island in mid-March, and now the St. Louis District’s crane is effectively stranded in the St. Paul District by heavy ice, and isn’t expected to return to St. Louis until late April. Following a regional conference between Corps districts, it was decided that the Hercules would assist with the Lock 25 repair, and a crew from the Rock Island District would also come perform the highly specialized repair work….
After winning a legal battle to go forward with the “spring pulse” on the Missouri River, the Corps of Engineers announced March 27 that it would limit the effects of the pulse to the portion of the river above Kansas City. By adjusting releases from five tributary dams in Missouri and Kansas, the Corps will be able to raise water levels in the reach above Kansas City, while not increasing the amount of water that flows below that point.
The lower Missouri basin has been hit hard by rain and snow this spring, with many parts of the region, as well as other nearby watersheds, at or above flood stage.
The pulse is designed to mimic the natural flow of the river before the six large upstream dams and reservoirs were built. It is hoped the pulse will improve habitat for the pallid sturgeon, a federally protected endangered species.
Ever since the pulse idea was conceived several years ago, it has been controversial in lower-basin states for two primary reasons: it expends scarce water resources that some feel could be better used to provide more depth in the river during the summer months; and it comes at a time when farmers and others along the lower river are already at risk of being flooded….
The U.S. inland barge fleet expanded for the second consecutive year in 2007. While still below the historical high in 1998, there were 931 new barges added to the overall fleet while 762 barges were retired, according to a report from Informa Economics Inc., Memphis.
Among the different barge types, the number of covered barges declined for the ninth consecutive year, while the numbers of open and tank barges increased.
The Barge Fleet Profile, now in its 21st year, is an annual report published by Informa Economics. The report identifies the line haul, commodity carrying fleet of inland barges operating on the Mississippi River system, its connecting waterways and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The report, which is compiled through an annual survey of operators as well as information from the Army Corps of Engineers, also summarizes the size and average age of the fleet by barge operator for each type of barge. Included are covered barges that move grains and oilseeds, fertilizers, steel and other products, as well as open barges that haul coal, sand, gravel and similar product types. Details on tank barges that transport liquid products, such as crude oils and renewable fuels, also are incorporated into the report….
Prompt response by a crew from the towboat James K. Ellis prevented the death toll from being higher than it was when eight people were thrown into the Tennessee River near the New Johnsonville railroad bridge at Mile 100.5 March 22. In spite of rescue and search efforts from several agencies, two people remain missing and are presumed drowned. A third victim died after being recovered from the water.
Capt. Charlie Ritchie, vessel operations manager for Excell Marine Corporation, said Excell’s mv. James K. Ellis was tied up at the New Johnsonville port awaiting the arrival of a service technician when the captain received a radio call from the operator on the New Johnsonville drawbridge. The bridge operator said a 14-foot fishing boat had overturned or swamped near the bridge and eight people were in the water.
Because the engine on the single-screw towboat was down and cool, the boat could not be readily dispatched to the scene, but the vessel’s crew quickly launched its utility boat, which raced to the scene.
Ritchie said Capt. Dave Stansbury, steersman Mike Overby and deckhand James Lynn navigated their skiff through two- to three-foot waves in the darkness to search for the stricken boaters. Two 10-year-old boys were among the occupants, he said, and only one person was reported to be wearing a life jacket.…
If the first two months are any indication, 2008 will be a very good year for cargo shippers on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Waterway System.
“Last month was the most active February for waterway transportation in the history of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa,” said Steve Kissee, chairman of the City of Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority. “It also marks the highest January through February year-to-date period in the port’s 37-year history.
“The port reported increases in shipments of inbound dry fertilizer, salt, asphalt and molasses, while the number of outbound fabricated projects, the amount of refined petroleum products, and soybeans also increased,” he said.
The Tulsa Port of Catoosa is the head of navigation for the 445-mile McClellan-Kerr system.
“February’s total shipments came to 257,000 tons of cargo in 161 barges,” Kissee said. “The previous best February was in 2003, when 233,000 tons of cargo passed over the port’s docks….
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