Weekly News Summary For June 30 - July 6, 2008:
As Upper Mississippi floodwaters began to stabilize or recede, locks began to re-open and U.S. Coast Guard efforts shifted from flood response and assistance efforts to restoring navigation. A Coast Guard spokesman estimated it would take at least two weeks for navigation to be completely restored in the Upper Mississippi.
Cmdr. Mark Cunningham, Coast Guard incident commander for flood response and recovery operations, praised the close cooperation between industry and government during the flooding.
“This flood response was very successful and demonstrated just how well local, state, and federal government can come together in times of disaster. Our priority now is to work with industry and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get the Mississippi back on line again,” Cunningham said in a press release.
Locks 11 through 15 were all reopened by June 20. Lock 16 at Muscatine, Iowa was to reopen on or after June 26; Lock 17 on or after June 28, and Locks 18 and 19 on or after June 27, said river forecaster Scott Pettis of the Rock Island Engineer District. Locks 20 through 22 is scheduled to reopen on or after July 2.
“All levels are falling or holding down to Lock 21,” said Pettis, although “rain on some tributaries is keeping the water levels steady in some places.”
Some locks may need repairs, however, which might delay openings.
“We won’t know what’s broken until the water goes down,” said Rock Island Corps spokesman Ron Fournier….
AEP River Operations, Chesterfield, Mo., announced June 23 that it had acquired Missouri Barge Line Company and Cape Girardeau Fleeting Inc. from the Erlbacher family of Cape Girardeau, Mo.
A third Erlbacher company, Missouri Dry Dock & Repair Company, was not included in the transaction.
The assets acquired include 11 towboats—the Arthur E. Snider, C.W. Rushing, Carrie Mays, Coal Express, Connie Mays, Curtis Moore, Elizabeth Ann, Jim Buttry, Joanne, Mabel L and Milton V. Roth—jumbo and super-jumbo hopper barges; ongoing towboat and barge charters; and fleeting and service agreements covering roughly 1 million tons of annual cargo.
“We’re excited about this opportunity to increase our boat and barge fleet size and increase our presence in Cape Girardeau with the addition of over 90 well-qualified vessel employees and management staff,” said Mark Knoy, president of AEP River Operations. “The office staff will relocate to AEP River Operations’ Cape Girardeau office from the existing Erlbacher facility.”
The companies did not release plans for using Erlbacher’s management office in downtown Cape Girardeau. Missouri Dry Dock will remain at its current location along the Mississippi River, and will continue to be managed by president Rob Erlbacher….
Can the owners of a vessel be liable for punitive damages resulting from the actions of their captains or maritime employees while at sea—even if the owners did not know about, direct or approve of those actions?
That question, which gave birth to an almost 200-year-old body of consistent maritime legal rulings, was left unsettled by a June 25 Supreme Court decision (Exxon v. Baker) reducing a punitive damage award against Exxon stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
In asking the Supreme Court to reject and/or reduce its punitive damages claimed in a 1994 lawsuit after hundreds of millions in compensatory payments had been made, Exxon made three arguments, two hinging on maritime law. The court agreed with one, rejected one, and left a third hanging. One loss, one win, and one draw for Exxon. But the “draw” leaves a key question of maritime liability up in the air.
One Loss, One Win, One Draw
Exxon lost its argument that the pollution penalties spelled out in the Clean Water Act should pre-empt punitive damage awards. The court ruled, “There is no clear indication of congressional intent to occupy the entire field of pollution remedies, nor is it likely that punitive damages for private harms will have any frustrating effect on the CWA’s remedial scheme.”
Exxon won its argument that maritime law limited punitive damages. Writing for the majority, Justice Souter said, “The punitive damages award against Exxon was excessive as a matter of maritime common law. In the circumstances of this case, the award should be limited to an amount equal to compensatory damages.”
The ruling established a ceiling in maritime law for punitive damages at a ratio 1:1 of compensatory damages. Actual punitive damages could range between 0.65:1 and 1:1, at a lower court’s discretion.
Progressive Barge Line Inc. christened its newest boat, the Old Glory, May 23 at its yard in Westwego, La., across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.
Known for its 35 years of bunker barge work on the river, Progressive has expanded its business model to include line haul units and is now pushing two-barge tows on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).
With two feet less operating draft at 9.5 feet, the 2,400 hp. Old Glory will take the run of the Justice, pushing a pair of 300-foot barges rated at 30,000 barrels each in the Houston area and along the GIWW. The Justice is slated to return to the Mississippi River, where its 11.5-foot draft is better suited. Tows on portions of the GIWW have to deal with shoaling and a lack of federal money appropriated by Congress for the Corps of Engineers to keep channels at their authorized depth.
Construction of the Old Glory’s hull is almost identical to the Spirit, Progressive’s previous boat built at Ashton Boat Construction, which is located on the Harvey Canal on the West Bank. Ashton started the Old Glory hull as a spec boat.
Mark Gauthier, Progressive’s vice president and port engineer, became a fixture at Ashton’s yard, as Progressive made changes in the house drawings to provide more creature comforts for the crew, a key factor in retaining qualified personnel, he said….
James Marine Inc. recently opened James Wickliffe at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. With two drydocks on site and a third under construction, the shipyard will be the first full-service boat repair facility in Wickliffe, Ky., said Jeff James, executive vice president and chief operating officer. The new facility will allow James Marine to expand volume with existing customers and serve new customers on the Mississippi, said James.
The Kentucky Dock is a drydock that was previously being used at another James Marine location. It is 200 by 80 feet with a 2,500-ton capacity. The Mississippi Dock, just recently completed by James, and the drydock currently being built, are each 225 by 80 feet with 3,000-ton capacity….
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