Weekly News Summary For July 2-8, 2007:
Newly assigned Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit-Paducah Cmdr. Christopher S. Myskowski met with 25 area marine towing company executives or operations managers June 22 to discuss the annual low-water season. Also in attendance were Executive Officer, Derrick Masters, Lt. Brad Hammond and Petty Officer Matthew Hopkins.
The low water has already begun to cause navigation problems and delays for tows in the Cairo–Mound City, Ill., area.
The meeting was arranged by the Ohio River Ice Committee, whose chairman, Capt. David E. Dewey, president of Western Kentucky Navigation, presided.
Also attending the session at the Coast Guard’s Paducah operations center were representatives from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Corps of Engineers and area lockmasters. This was the first opportunity for many marine industry officials to meet the new commander, who assumed the local command June 6.
“I have a lot to learn,” Myskowski told the group during his brief welcoming remarks as he described his introduction to “brown water” navigation practices and procedures following 18 years service in the “blue water” segment, most recently in the 17th District in Alaska. He described a recent visit to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers at Cairo as “a real eye-opener.” He said he was glad to get the assignment to Paducah and is looking forward to the chance to broaden his understanding of the commercial navigation industry….
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, says he will convene a hearing to explore allegations that the agency’s administrative law system is biased and that its judges are pressured to rule in the Coast Guard’s favor.
As reported in the Baltimore Sun, Cummings also said he plans to ask Coast Guard Commandant Thad W. Allen to consider immediate action to protect the rights of defendants whose cases are now before the Coast Guard’s courts.
Cummings was responding to an article published in the Sun, based partly on testimony of a former agency judge, suggesting that the Coast Guard’s system is stacked against mariners. The Baltimore-based administrative court system handles hundreds of cases each year brought by the agency against civilian mariners accused of negligence, misconduct or other infractions, and its judges have the authority to suspend or revoke the credentials that mariners must have in order to work.
Former Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge Jeffie J. Massey, who left the agency in March and 10 days later gave a sworn statement about her experience, said she was told by Chief Judge Joseph N. Ingolia that she was not a judge but rather a tool to enable the Coast Guard to gain the rulings it wants….
The main lock chamber at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam reopened June 25, eight days earlier than expected.
Marquette Transportation’s 4,600 hp. towboat Jacob Michael Eckstein with 15 barges was the first tow to pass through the lock after repairs were completed.
Up to 20 towboats were waiting in line to be locked through, causing delays up to 18-24 hours.
“We had been getting some fairly substantial delays. It’s a busy time of season. There really isn’t a slow time at Mel Price, because that lock provides access to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers,” Corps spokesman Alan Dooley said.
“There’s never a good time to do something like this. We saw lots of empties move north for harvest,” Dooley added….
The Ports Association of Louisiana (PAL) has announced that it will advertise and award a contract to a consulting firm for the creation of a Louisiana ports and maritime strategic economic development plan.
“This comprehensive statewide maritime planning effort will create the road map to the future for Louisiana’s 30 ports, the marine transportation industry cluster and other industry clusters dependent upon intermodal transportation,” said Robert Scafidel, PAL president and executive director for the St. Bernard Port, Harbor & Terminal District. “It will also guide the state to increased value-added manufacturing of raw materials shipped through Louisiana.
“A major economic development activity such as this will help Louisiana to retain existing jobs, attract new jobs and target new trade partners who will bring new business ventures to Louisiana,” he added.
Scafidel noted that critical to this effort was the recruitment of aggregate funding from several sources including the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration ($432,785), the Louisiana Department of Economic Development ($200,000), and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development ($65,000). In addition, PAL will provide $35,000 to make this a unified federal, state, and local effort.
There’s a new catamaran workboat operating on the Lower Mississippi River. Shamrock Boat Store in Plaquemine, La., at Mile 198.5 AHP, now has its new state-of-the-art 60- by 26-foot steel grocery boat in operation.
Unlike some groceries that are carried on the back deck of crew boats and are exposed to the sun, rain and spray, the Shamrock grocery boat is covered, with a deep freezer compartment to hold frozen groceries, a walk-in cooler and dry storage for the run out to a customer’s boat.
The grocery boat has a flexible stainless steel conveyor that extends two feet past the side, so groceries do not have to be handed across the water, where they can be dropped and lost. It’s a big improvement from Shamrock’s first delivery to the Harold Dodd, in which they used ice chests to deliver perishables more than two years ago.
Operated by two NOBRA (New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association) pilots, one would expect Shamrock’s service to reflect the hands-on experience of the owners. Vic Calvaruso, has 30 years of piloting deep-draft vessels on the river. Duncan Armentor is a relative newcomer with six years experience.
Because of their “day jobs,” Calvaruso and Armentor do not have to turn the profit of other boat stores.
“We’ve been operating for more than two years and have yet to take any money out of the business,” Armentor explained, with his youthful exuberance. Profits continue to be plowed back into the business….
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