Weekly News Summary For May 19-25, 2008:
Senator Everett Dirksen once famously said, regarding the federal budget-making process, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” $10 million isn’t even loose change under the federal budget’s couch.
But $10 million in grants to small shipyards is having a big impact on the inland waterways shipbuilding capacity—and on some struggling communities.
This year, for the first time, the Maritime Administration announced on April 24 that it distributed grants totaling $9.8 million to 19 small shipyards across America, from Maine to Alaska and Hawaii. All regions and coasts were represented, and six of those yards serve the inland waterways. Although MarAd used to administer a construction differential subsidy program, those grants went to individual ships. The agency has never before funded shipyards directly.
The grants were part of the Assistance to Small Shipyards program set up under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006.
The idea for the small shipyards program originated with Sen. Daniel Inouye, (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), both long-time supporters of the merchant marine. As the language for the program migrated from the Senate Commerce Committee (the committee that authorized the bill) to the Senate Armed Services Committee (where it was included in the defense authorization bill), significant changes were made. The Shipbuilders Council of America worked closely with both committees on the bill. The guiding idea behind the grants was to supply a level of support to smaller and mid-sized yards in place of the defense contracts that sustain larger yards….
Louisiana’s worldwide merchandise exports, which had record years in 2006 and 2007, got off to a rousing start in the first quarter of 2008 with a 56.6 percent increase over the prior year’s first three months, according to a report issued last week by the World Trade Center of New Orleans.
Based on the strength of high oil and agricultural prices, the value of the state’s exports reached a new high of $11.5 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to $7.3 billion in 2007, according to the WTC report.
Agricultural products, petroleum and coal, chemicals, processed foods, and machinery ranked as Louisiana’s top five export sectors in the January–March 2008 period, all of which registered double-digit or higher percentage gains over the first three months of 2007. The state’s principal export markets in the first quarter were China, Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands, and Canada.
The WTC report was generated by the World Institute of Strategic Economic Research (WISER) from U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers the exports of both Louisiana-originating products and some major commingled bulk commodities (especially grain and coal) that are produced in other states, shipped abroad from Louisiana’s ports, and recorded as Louisiana exports because of the difficulty of identifying the actual states of origin….
April saw significant rain in the lower Missouri River basin, but the plains in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota remain very dry, the Corps of Engineers said in its monthly report of Missouri River reservoir conditions. Inflow into the three large upper reservoirs averaged only 33 percent of normal.
The snowpack in the Rocky Mountains peaked in late April, slightly above normal. Above Fort Peck, it topped at 111 percent of normal, and 110 percent in the reach between Fort Peck and Garrison, essentially the Yellowstone River basin.
“Cool temperatures have slowed the melt of the mountain snowpack,” said Larry Cieslik, chief of the Water Management office in Omaha, Neb. “This, coupled with the very dry plains, has impacted our ability to keep rising water levels in each of the big reservoirs during the forage fish spawn this spring. The forage base is what supports game fish such as walleye and salmon.”
Garrison, the favored reservoir this year, declined half a foot in the second half of April, despite efforts to maintain a steady or rising water level. This included higher releases from Fort Peck and lower releases from Garrison. The Corps did not implement additional reductions because of potential impacts to municipal water intakes and the walleye fishery in the river below the dam….
The Port of South Louisiana broke ground on a 40,000-square-foot bulk transit storage facility at its Globalplex Intermodal Terminal in Reserve, La., May 13. The shed will assist the port’s customers—including its stevedoring partner, Associated Terminals—with handling and storing dry bulk commodities being shipped in and out of the 54-mile port district.
The 200- by 200-foot bulk facility is being strategically placed at the southeast corner of the industrial park adjacent to the general cargo dock access bridge.
“The Port of South Louisiana planned this facility based on the needs of its customers,” said Joel Chaisson, executive director. “It is being built on this site to make it quick and easy for shipments to move to and from our dock for storage in the building,” he added.
Truck ramps into the building and external truck docks are part of the design for loading and unloading bulk shipments. Roads are provided for vehicles to access the building and to also drive around it….
Tony Brady, owner of Bipacco Coatings LLC, has just added his fourth distributor in Louisiana. Not that he’s been in a hurry. It’s a deliberate process.
“I don’t want just anyone selling my products,” said Brady. “I need someone who knows something about paint.”
Bipacco specializes in paint and coatings that are “worker-friendly” and environmentally safe. One of Bipacco’s most successful products is called Captain’s Choice. That’s the trademarked name Brady gave to a paint formula of his own devising, a water-reducible paint based on a soy alkyd resin.
The big selling points of Captain’s Choice, said Brady, are environmental safety and user-friendliness. Unlike other oil-based paints, it contains low VOC’s (volatile organic compounds). Captain’s Choice contains no xylene or toluene to give off potentially harmful fumes. That’s important in an era when regulations about how long workers can be exposed to potentially harmful substances in the workplace are tightening all the time. Brady says Captain’s Choice has been a favorite for towboat interiors for this reason, although it can also be used on exteriors….
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