Weekly News Summary For July 9-15, 2007:
When Capt. Deane Orr, vice president-river operations for Consol Energy Inc., was a little boy, he lived in Charleroi, Pa., down the hill from the most respected man in town, a community leader and successful businessman. During the winters, he would trudge to the top of the hill with his snow shovel and clean the man’s driveway for him.
It just so happened the gentleman everybody so greatly admired was none other than Howard S. Guttman, of Guttman Oil Company and one of the founders of Mon River Towing Company, which, alas, Consol now owns. Furthermore, the “man at the top of the hill” was also the namesake of a towboat Consol renamed on June 7 the mv. Capt. Deane Orr, after the “little boy at the bottom.”
“Now,” said Jim Grech, Consol’s senior vice president, to Orr at the renaming festivities, “you’ve climbed that hill. You’re on top of the hill. You’re the respected individual. Everybody holds you in high regard. You’re the man everybody looks up to. Congratulations.”
Consol held the celebration aboard the excursion boat Gateway Party Liner in Pittsburgh, at the mouth of the Monongahela River.
Orr started with Consolidation Coal Company in 1972 as a deckhand on the towboat R.L. Ireland. Less than a year later, he had earned his mate and first class pilot license, and was promptly promoted to pilot. At 23, he was the youngest assigned pilot in Twin Rivers Towing Company, which is Consol’s river transportation unit….
The Louisville Engineer District is looking for a few good towing companies.
The Louisville Repair Station (LRS) needs towboats to push the repair craft Henry M. Shreve, and to be able to rent barges when needed. The district has announced a more efficient contracting opportunity to get LRS the help it needs to keep the navigation system in good repair.
The “MATOC,” or multiple award task order contract, will allow the repair station to more efficiently move the Shreve for emergencies or for scheduled work on the inland waterways. In addition, the repair fleet can procure the needed barges that are required to accomplish their missions.
Lloyd Harlow, floating plant supervisor for the Louisville Repair Station, said the Corps is looking throughout the Ohio River Basin or even nationwide for contractors to apply for the district’s MATOC towing contract. The MATOC will reduce the costs and time for both the contractors and the government of setting up many contracts over the five-year period of the contract’s duration. The process establishes up to five contractors that will complete much of the necessary paperwork up front….
The Coast Guard has announced a teleconference of the Towing Safety Advisory Committee and a teleconference of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee.
Both committees will discuss and prepare recommendations for the Coast Guard in connection with the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) biometric reader requirements.
The towing safety teleconference call will take place July 17 from 9 a.m. until noon, EDT. Committee members and members of the public may participate by dialing 866, 917-9053. The participant code number is 5344122#. For more information, contact Gerald Miante at 202, 372-1401.
The personnel advisory teleconference call will take place July 19 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., EDT. Committee members and members of the public may participate by dialing 866, 917-8653. The participant code number is 9264498#. For more information, contact Mark Gould at 202, 372-1409….
Following an unreported incident March 29, that resulted in substantial damage to the R.J. Corman Railroad Bridge on the Cumberland River near Clarksville, Tenn., the Coast Guard signed a consent order agreement which resulted in the suspension of a mariner’s a license.
The suspension is the result of a consent order agreement between the Coast Guard and the mariner, where the mariner was found guilty of negligence as a mariner and failure to report a marine casualty incident.
In a June 29 press release, the Eighth Coast Guard District urged all mariners to report any and all marine casualty incidents to the nearest Coast Guard facility.
“When this type of incident occurs and is not reported, we contact the locks and dams, so we can narrow our search down for a possible vessel,” said Chief Warrant Officer Tim Smith, investigating officer from Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Nashville….
Signet Maritime christened the new 1,280 hp. push tug Signet Columbia at the Solomon Ortiz Center Corpus Christi, Texas June 28. The construction contract for the boat was awarded to John Bludworth Shipyard in March 2006.
Based on a proven John L. Bludworth design, the new boat measures 62 by 26 by 9-1/2 feet. It is powered by two Cummins model KTA 19-M3 engines delivering 640 hp. each, provided by Cummins Southern Plains. The engines turn Heavy Duty 68- by 48-inch four-blade Aqualoy propellers through Twin Disc MG5170 gears at 5.95:1 ratio. The propellers were provided by Texas Wheel Works, the gears by Sewart Supply. Skipper Engineered Products provided the mechanical, full follow-up steering system.
Cummins Southern Plains also supplied the Genset 40 kw. ship’s service generators….
A web site redesign project will provide easier access to updates and information about the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) for the Upper Mississippi River System.
The new site, www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/UMRS/NESP, will allow more ready access to program/project information and more than 600 reports developed over 15 years as the project evolved from what originally was called the Navigation Study of the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway.
The goal was to provide more access to documents produced over the study period, according to Kevin Bluhm, public involvement technical manager.
The site will look familiar to anyone who’s looked at the study site for the Corps of Engineers’ Everglades Restoration Project, which was used as a model for using color and design to create a more consistent theme throughout the site and make it easier to navigate….
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