Weekly News Summary For May 4–10, 2009:
The Army Corps of Engineers released its long-awaited list of waterways projects that will get portions of the $4.8 billion in grants the Corps received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The total amount had been announced when President Obama signed the bill into law on February 17. The Corps gave itself two months to put together the list.
The extraordinary grants will allow the Corps to make dents in a decades-old backlog of maintenance and construction projects in a waterways and harbor system widely acknowledged as crumbling.
Economists estimate that Corps stimulus projects will create or maintain about 57,400 direct construction jobs and an additional 64,000 indirect and “induced” jobs, the St. Louis Engineer District said in an April 29 statement.
“The Recovery Act funds for civil works will enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do much good for the nation,” said John Paul Woodley, Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for civil works.
“We intend to quickly put these dollars into action to get our fellow citizens to work on Corps projects throughout the nation. At the same time, we will use these funds to build long-term value for the nation in its water resources projects with these funds,” said Maj. Gen. Meredith “Bo” Temple, deputy commanding general for civil and emergency operations for the Corps….
American Commercial Lines reported a net loss of $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2009, due primarily to the recession and the costs of closing its Houston liquids headquarters.
Revenues for the quarter were $196.8 million, a 27.2 percent decrease compared with the $270.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, ACL said. The Jeffersonville, Ind., company’s transportation revenue declined by 24.1 percent, and its manufacturing revenue by 45 percent.
The loss amounted to 11 cents per share, compared to net income of $2.3 million or 5 cents per share in the 2008 first quarter.
“The sustained weakness in the economy negatively impacted our results, from a volume and profitability perspective, in what is typically the least profitable quarter of each year,” said Michael P. Ryan, president and chief executive officer, in the company announcement. “We had significantly lower backhaul demand from the Gulf and a higher mix of lower-margin commodity shipments when compared to the prior year….
Kirby Corporation, Houston, Texas, reported last week that the company’s string of 20 straight quarters of year-over-year earnings increases was broken in the first quarter of 2009. The company announced net earnings of $28 million, or 52 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared with $36.6 million, or 68 cents per share, for the same period of 2008.
“The current economic recession and its impact on both our marine transportation and diesel engine services businesses ended our current string of 20 consecutive quarters with year-over-year net earnings increases,” said Joe Pyne, Kirby president and chief executive officer. “Our transportation volumes across all segments softened, driven by the deteriorating economic conditions, resulting in lower revenue and operating income, partially offset by favorable first quarter winter weather conditions. Our diesel engine services segment saw service levels and direct parts sales further weaken in the first quarter in the Gulf Coast oil service, inland marine and railroad markets, as customers deferred maintenance.”
Pyne said the company has cut back in the first quarter.
“As a result of the lower demand during the 2009 first quarter for both our marine transportation and diesel engine services segments, we have taken specific steps to reduce overhead and lower expenditures,” he said. “The shore staffs of the marine transportation and diesel engine services segments were reduced by approximately 6 percent through early retirement incentives and staff reductions….
Moored in Chattanooga since it arrived from New Orleans February 8, the Delta Queen is “tentatively” scheduled for a mid-May grand opening as a floating hotel and the newest attraction on the Memphis riverfront, according to its new web site (www.deltaqueenhotel.com). But its advocates say there’s still a chance it could cruise the rivers as a passenger vessel.
The famed riverboat was leased from its owner, Ambassadors International, by Harry Phillips, owner of Chattanooga Water Taxi and Fat Cat Ferry (see WJ, February 2). Ambassadors has said the arrangement was temporary and that it was continuing to seek operators to run it as a cruise vessel. The lease agreement has a 90-day termination clause.
Now Vicki Webster, head of the Save the Delta Queen Campaign, says there is a chance the Queen could return to the inland waterways. A group of buyers is still interested in buying the vessel and running it as a cruise ship, she said.
In an open letter to the Delta Queen’s supporters, Webster said, “Contrary to what you have read or heard, our fight to renew the Queen’s 40-year exemption from the Safety of Life [At Sea] Act goes on. There is a group that wants to buy the boat and put her back in full operation as the only traditional steamboat carrying overnight passengers on our inland waterways.”…
A large audience of well-wishers gathered aboard a freshly painted deck barge in Paducah, Ky., April 4 to officially welcome the new 4,000 hp. mv. Danny L Whitford into the expanding fleet of Hunter Marine Transport of Nashville, Tenn.
The delivery of the new towboat was a first for Gulf Island Marine Fabricators Inc. of Houma, La., but it was not the first time the builder and the new vessel’s owner worked together. The relationship between Gulf Island president Bobby Barthel and the boat’s namesake, who is Hunter Marine’s vice president-vessel operations, dates back more than 25 years.
Barthel had been general manager for many years at Quality Shipyards in Houma, where he first worked with Whitford in 1985 after Quality took over the construction and delivery of two towboats. The boats were being built for Mid-South Towing Company, where Whitford served as project manager.
“Danny worked with us in 1985 on our first towboats and now he has worked with us at Gulf Island on our first new towboat,” Barthel remarked.
Barthel said that he first met Hunter Marine Transport president Ron Hunter at the 1984 International WorkBoat Show. They soon became friends, and before long began talking about building towboats. By 1990, Hunter bought the former mv. A.L. Long, which had originally operated for The Ohio River Company. Barthel and his crew at Quality Shipyards completely transformed the well-worn vessel into the modern-looking and updated mv. Cumberland Hunter. The project involved replacement of the engines with upgraded horsepower and major superstructure modifications….
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