Tidewater Barge Lines News

Tidewater Barge Lines, Inc will expand its regional barge service on the Columbia River after being awarded grant funding from the U.S. Department Maritime Administration (MARAD).The $4,168,759 from MARAD, combined with nearly $2 million in matching funds from Tidewater, will provide two new low and zero emission cranes that will enable the loading of additional solid waste containers on barges for shipment from southwest Washington to eastern Oregon.“This award will allow Tidewater…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded nearly $39 million in grants to 12 marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help expand marine highway services on the United States’ navigable waterways to reduce congestion, alleviate supply chain bottlenecks, and move goods more quickly from ships to shelves.“At a time of record demand for goods, it’s more important than ever to…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $9.5 million in grants to eight marine highways projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program. The funding supports the enhancement of navigable waterways and expands existing waterborne freight services in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and American Samoa.“This Federal assistance will provide additional options to reduce congestion on the roads and help the surrounding local communities’ and the regions’ economic recovery…

The U.S. towing and tug business is 5,500 boats, more than 31,000 barges with an estimated total impact on U.S. GDP of $33.8 billion.“At a macro level, the bigger ships are causing downward pressure on the ship assist business because there are fewer ship calls given the increased capacity of these vessels. However, certain ports have seen tremendous growth, based on strategic location and infrastructure investments that have attracted these larger ships and been a net plus for these areas.”Kate Fuhrman…

A local barge company has been fined $18,000 for spilling 40,000 gallons of liquid urea ammonium nitrate into the Snake and Columbia rivers. Urea ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer that is corrosive to steel. An investigation by the Washington Department of Ecology found that two steel tank barges owned and operated by Tidewater Barge Lines, Inc. were not properly maintained, causing the liquid fertilizer to spill into the rivers during three separate incidents in April 2017. The first spill occurred between April 11 and 21 during transfer and storing operations at the Tidewater Snake River Terminal in Pasco. Investigators determined that 16,639 gallons of urea ammonium nitrate were released by Barge No. 78 due to corrosion of the storage tank.

Nearly 85 years ago, Tidewater pioneered commercial transportation on the upper Columbia Snake River system and opened up one of the nation’s most isolated regions to global markets. Today, Tidewater Holdings is comprised of Tidewater Barge Lines, Tidewater Terminal Company, and since 2014, Tidewater Environmental Services, Incorporated. Tidewater Terminal Company works in conjunction with its Barge Lines, using key intermodal connections to railroads, highways and pipelines.

U.S. Marine Inspectors from Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Portland conducted a field dry dock examination, Wednesday, to educate and train the towing vessel community on new regulatory standards that will come into force in the summer of 2018. Shaver Transportation Company suggested the field outreach event during a U.S. Coast Guard initiated information session the previous week. The information session held at MSU Portland was the second in a series of national outreach forums designed to educate towing vessel operators on the new regulations…

Vigor Industrial has ballooned from a modest shipyard in Portland, Oregon, to the largest shipbuilder in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Vigor increasingly thinks big and builds big. The company’s new floating dry dock will be the largest in the United States. And Vigor wants to get even bigger. CEO and owner Frank Foti expresses an ambition to grow to twice the current size in the “next few years.” Foti, who is also chairman of the Shipbuilder’s Council of America, says he is, “striving for critical mass.

Vigor Fab has been awarded a contract by Tidewater Barge Lines of Vancouver, Wash, to construct 3 new tugboats. Construction of the first tug will start on Jan. 24, 2014, with the keel laying (the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction) at Vigor’s facility in Portland. Vigor explain that while Tidewater has rebuilt and repowered several of the vessels in its fleet, these tugs will be the first newly built vessels for the company in nearly 30 years. Delivery of the first tug will be in December 2014, with the 2nd and 3rd to follow in 2015.

MarineCFO, a division of VerticaLive Inc., announced today that Tidewater Barge Lines has chosen to implement the full MarineCFO Enterprise software suite, including Personnel, Operations, Maintenance and Vessel Live! Tidewater is a provider of marine transportation and terminal services on the Columbia-Snake River system in the Pacific Northwest. Stan Smith, Manager of Information Technology & Quality for Tidewater, said, “After an exhaustive review of the enterprise software options available for our industry, we chose MarineCFO because it is the most configurable product on the market. The combination of existing functionality and technology framework for implementing Tidewater-specific enhancements made the product a great choice for us.

American Commercial Lines (ACL) has been selected to serve as a representative on the Inland Waterways Users Board (IWUB), an advisory board established to monitor the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (Fund) and make recommendations to the Army Corps of Engineers and to Congress on investment priorities using resources from the Fund. Comprised of representatives of the barge transportation industry and the customers it serves, the IWUB provides input to help identify and prioritize investment in inland navigation infrastructure.

Foss Maritime Co. will lay off its 60 workers and leave the Columbia River, OregonLive.com reported. OregonLive said the Seattle company will sell its Columbia River business to Tidewater Barge Lines, which moves grain and other cargo along the Columbia-Snake river system, pitting Tidewater against Shaver Transportation Co. in another line of business, transporting river pilots and maneuvering large cargo vessels in and out of ports. OregonLive.com

Foss Maritime Company announced that it has agreed to sell selected assets, including two tugs and twenty barges currently operating on the Columbia Snake River system, to based Tidewater Barge Lines. Foss made the decision to sell selected assets in order to focus its efforts and investment in its strategic lines of business including ship assist, ocean towing and special projects. The sale will help the company maintain its strategic focus and standards of quality, said Scott Merritt, Foss’ Senior Vice President of Operations, citing the need for additional vessels and upgrades on its existing upriver tugs as contributing to the sale’s timing. “The most important thing for Foss is to ensure that we provide our customers with the highest quality service,” said Mr. Merritt.

Following the mandates to enhance maritime security throughout the United States, programs were developed to make federal funds available to partially offset the costs being imposed on the private sector. The programs, which started off with great fanfare, are in danger of collapsing due to lack of continued funding by Congress and attempts by the Administration to siphon off monies for other missions. The first monies appropriated by Congress for port security grants were in the Department of Defense and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the United States Act, 2002 (Pub.L. 107-117, January 10, 2002).

Tidewater Barge Lines, headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., has appointed Stephen A. Frasher as president and COO. Frasher, who holds an MBA from New York University, has 27 years of experience in the transportation industry, including time with Burlington Northern and Conrail.