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Baton Rouge News

18 Mar 2024

Port NOLA Bests Container-on-barge Record

(Photo: Port NOLA)

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) said 2023 was a record year for container-on-barge shipping.During the last calendar year, Port NOLA marked 20,500 container moves by barge, the highest since launching the container-on-barge network—the nation's largest—in 2016 with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and Ingram Marine Group. Container-on-barge moves containers by water rather than by truck on roads to reduce air emissions; moving an average of 30,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year between New Orleans, the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Memphis and St. Louis.

05 Feb 2024

Bisso's New Tractor Tug to Enter Service This Spring

(Photo: Caterpillar Marine)

A new tugboat is slated to enter service for Bisso Towboat this Spring.The Luling, La. based marine towage provider has been working with Main Iron Works to update its fleet, replacing a conventional tug with a tractor tug about every 18 months. In late 2022, the Houma, La. shipbuilder began building a new tractor tug Mr. Brian—the sixth azimuth stern drive (ASD) tractor tug built by Main Iron Works for Bisso in the past eight years.Named after Bisso’s vice president of operations Brian Cyprowski…

09 Nov 2023

Oil Tanker Fire Sparked by Lithium-ion Battery Explosion -NTSB

S-Trust at anchor following the casualty. (Source: U.S. Coast Guard, courtesy NTSB)

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday cited thermal runaway of a cell within a handheld radio’s lithium-ion battery as the cause of a fire on an oil tanker docked in Baton Rouge, La.The Liberian-registered oil tanker S-Trust was docked at the Genesis Port Allen Terminal on November 13, 2022, when a fire on the bridge was sparked by one of the cells in a lithium-ion battery for an ultra-high-frequency handheld radio exploding, the NTSB's investigation found.

18 Jul 2023

USACE Awarded a Slew of Dredging Work in the First Half of 2023

(Photo: Dredging Contractors of America)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is snapping back from the doldrums of COVID-19, wrapping up a strong first half of 2023 with a slew of awarded dredging work.“The federal government is no different from state and local governments, nor the private sector when it comes to COVID-19 work related recovery and USACE is not an exception,” said William P. Doyle, CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America. “The Army Corps has been steadily issuing contract awards since February, and that’s on the award side.

19 Jun 2023

Dredging: Keeping the Mississippi Open

(Photo: USACE)

“Not only does the top of the river move, but the bottom of the river also moves.” - James Bodron, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, Regional Business Director.Dredging was the Herculean act that allowed much of the U.S. economy to keep chugging along as usual, at least for Midwest and Central states, as drought conditions threatened to shut down river traffic on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, during fall and winter 2022 and early 2023.The full scope of these U.S.

17 Jan 2023

NTSB Releases Preliminary Report on Offshore Platform Helicopter Crash

Image 2a (left) – Damaged chain link perimeter skirt on southwest corner of helipad
Image 2b (right) – Portion of a main rotor blade found on the deck below the helipad - Credit: NTSB

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the December 29, 2022, fatal helicopter crash near a Gulf of Mexico oil platform. One pilot and three passengers died in the incident."On December 29, 2022, about 0834 central standard time, a Bell 407 helicopter, N595RL, was substantially damaged during takeoff from an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot and 3 passengers were fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 flight…

11 Nov 2022

US Inland Waterways: Looking for Rainmakers

(Photo: Ingram Barge Company)

As 2022 moves into its final months, low water levels and drought form the basis of the news impacting inland waterways operators and barge companies. In the first week of October, numerous barges were reported grounded in the Mississippi River, particularly south of Baton Rouge. This has consequences: barge rates jumped 218% in St. Louis, compared to 2021.Low water was so severe that on October 7 Ingram Barge CEO John Roberts issued a force majeure notice (force majeure - unforeseeable…

11 Oct 2022

Parker Towing Acquires General Marine Services

(Photo courtesy Parker Towing Company)

Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based barging company Parker Towing Company on Tuesday announced it has acquired Baton Rouge, La.-based tank barge operator General Marine Services (GMS).GMS operates a fleet of liquid tank barges and towboats and provides services to customers in the refining industry. For Parker Towing the acquisition expands its tank barge division and fits into its strategy to continue to diversify and grow from a traditionally dry cargo carrier, the company said. “Gene Moore and GMS have a long-standing reputation of providing high-quality service to its customers.

31 Oct 2022

MARAD Awards Nearly $39 Million in Marine Highway Grants

© raoyang / Adobe Stock

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…

06 Oct 2022

Ingram Barge Declares Force Majeure Due to Low Mississippi River

© Michael / Adobe Stock

Ingram Barge Company, one of the country’s largest barge shippers, said Thursday it was “providing formal notice of a force majeure event” as low water on the Mississippi River disrupted its operations on the major shipping waterway.The declaration would affect the portion of Ingram’s operating network at locations downriver from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ingram Barge Chief Executive John Roberts said in an emailed statement. (Reuters - Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

28 Sep 2022

Partners Awarded $50 Million to Create Clean Hydrogen Cluster in South Louisiana

(Image: Greater New Orleans)

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) earlier this month awarded a $50 million federal grant to H2theFuture, a 25-organization partnership aiming to develop a new energy cluster in South Louisiana, spanning the clean hydrogen life cycle, from R&D at Louisiana universities, to an end-use project at the Port of South Louisiana.The award is one of 21 projects from around the country chosen from 529 applicants that were funded by a $1 billion appropriation from the American Rescue Plan Act…

19 Sep 2022

Towboats Collide on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is monitoring a barge with heavy fuel oil aground after a two towboats collided near Plaquemine, La., at mile marker 43.5 on the Port Allen route of the Gulf intracoastal waterway.Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Baton Rouge responded after watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans were notified that the vessels Creole Crusader and the Jack Odom collided at approximately 12:30 a.m. on SaturdayThe Creole Crusader was towing two barges containing heavy fuel oil, and the Jack Odom was towing two empty barges and three barges of steel bars. All seven barges remain on scene, two barges were intentionally grounded to prevent flooding or pollution.No injuries or pollution have been reported.The waterway was closed at mile marker 43.5 to all vessel traffic…

22 Jun 2022

VLS Environmental Solutions Acquires Plaquemine Point Shipyard

© Miguel / Adobe Stock

Marine services company VLS Environmental Solutions, LLC announced it has acquired barge cleaning and repair yard Plaquemine Point Shipyard (PPSY). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.Based in Plaquemine, La., PPSY is located just outside of Baton Rouge and provides full-service barge cleaning and repair along the Mississippi River. PPSY will operate within the VLS Marine Services division, and Wade Grundmeyer, VLS regional vice president of Southeast Louisiana, will run the business reporting to Eddie Van Huis…

02 May 2022

Suggestions for Making America’s Marine Highway Program More Effective

© Ed Metz / Adobe Stock

The America’s Marine Highways Program is one of several grant programs administered by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) to promote more effective use of the nation’s navigable waterways. This particular program was established by Congress in 2007 to provide grants for projects that would promote water-borne alternatives to available landside transportation services, especially for freight carried by trucks.Consistent with this specific goal, the program’s statutory authority…

15 Apr 2022

NTSB Publishes Report on New Orleans Tanker Grounding

CCTV footage looking downriver at 1522:26 shows the Bow Tribute when it struck the spud barge protecting the New River water intake pipes. (Photo: Crosby Dredging)

The decision to overtake a tow in a large river bend occupied by multiple vessels during high-river conditions led to the grounding of a tanker and contact with river intake fender systems in New Orleans, La., the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.Marine Investigation Report 22/11 details the NTSB’s investigation into the March 16, 2021, grounding of the tanker Bow Tribute and subsequent contact with the fender systems protecting two river intakes owned by the city’s sewerage and water board.

08 Mar 2022

Uninsulated Exhaust Header Likely Ignited Towboat Fire -NTSB

(Photo courtesy of Western Rivers Boat Management Inc.​ / NTSB)

An engine room fire aboard a towing vessel was the result of spraying diesel fuel hitting an uninsulated section of the engine's exhaust system, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a marine investigation report released Tuesday.On March 17, 2021, the towing vessel Miss Dorothy was pushing 14 barges upbound on the Lower Mississippi River, north of Baton Rouge, La., when a fire broke out in the engine room. The eight crewmembers aboard briefly attempted to fight the fire but were unsuccessful and evacuated to the barges. No pollution or injuries were reported.

05 Jan 2022

Louisiana Students Take Mississippi River Tour Field Trip

Ky Robillard, 6th grader. Louisiana Key Academy, Baton Rouge; Jamaree Washington, 9th grader, Franklin Senior High School, Franklin, Jordan Savoy, 9th grader, Lafayette High School, Lafayette, Joseph Mitchell, 8th grader, Iberia Middle School, New Iberia, Gabrielle Adams, 8th grader, Louisiana Key Academy, Baton Rouge. (Photo: Jonathan Lopez)

Dozens of South Louisiana middle and high school students eager to learn about careers in the maritime industry enjoyed a cool, windy autumn day on the mighty Mississippi River in St. Bernard Parish at the first-of-its-kind Maritime Field Trip.The daylong field trip was organized and coordinated by a group of maritime industry partners and featured Crescent River Port Pilots. The educational trip taught the students the importance of river safety and the dramatic impact mariners…

10 Dec 2021

MARAD Awards $12.6 Million in Grants for US Marine Highways

© Anneke / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along our navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods…

08 Nov 2021

Inland Waterways: A Crucible of Issues

© Bill Perry / Adobe Stock

As 2022 appears on the not-so-distant horizon, we asked inland waterways executives to reflect on the major issues impacting their industry. Just how those issues evolve – and whether they present as challenges or opportunities – is, of course, unknown. Answers to some future questions will be relatively straightforward, confidently based on industry knowledge and experience. Other outcomes remain hazier, and next steps could be influenced by forces and players completely removed from the business of barges…

11 Oct 2021

Cargill Loads Soy in Texas After Ida Damages Louisiana Terminal

The first bulk U.S. soybean cargo from the Texas Gulf Coast in about six months was loaded and shipped last week from a Cargill Inc terminal, in a sign of shifting trade flows in the wake of Hurricane Ida, traders and shipping sources said.The vessel Spar Rigel was loaded early last week with about 55,000 tonnes of soybeans at Cargill's Houston terminal, an outlet that typically loads mostly wheat and sorghum grown nearby, according to a shipping vessel lineup seen by Reuters.The uncommon shipment is the first of several soybean cargoes expected to load at Cargill's Texas facility this autumn after one of the company's two terminals at the Louisiana Gulf Coast - the country's top outlet for corn and soy shipped down the Mississippi River - was severely damaged by Ida on Aug.

20 Sep 2021

US Grain Exports Rise as Terminals Recover from Ida

© spiritofamerica / Adobe Stock

U.S. grain exports increased last week as shippers along the Louisiana Gulf Coast recovered from flooding and widespread power outages caused by Hurricane Ida's Aug. 29 landfall, but volumes were much lower than normal, preliminary data showed on Monday.Just seven export vessels were loaded with grain and soybeans at Louisiana Gulf Coast terminals in the week ended Sept. 16, down from 23 vessels in the same week last year, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data showed.Ida crippled overseas grain shipments weeks before the start of the Midwest harvest and the busiest period for U.S.

17 Sep 2021

US Barge Costs Spike Weeks After Hurricane Ida

© kiravolkov / Adobe Stock

Barge freight costs for moving grains in the Midwestern United States spiked on Thursday due to ongoing logistical problems more than two weeks after Hurricane Ida, while CHS Inc said the timeline to reopen its terminal remains uncertain.CHS Inc, a farmer cooperative and grain trader, said it expected its Myrtle Grove, Louisiana, grain export terminal to be operational by the height of the U.S. corn and soy harvest but could not be more specific.The terminal, which unloads grain barges and loads ocean-going vessels for export…

17 Sep 2021

Louisiana Ports Seek Federal Aid for Ida Recovery

(Photo: Port of New Orleans)

Several south Louisiana ports are requesting federal assistance to bolster recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ida.On August 29, Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana as a category 4 storm, heavily impacting local infrastructure, waterways and communities.The Lower Mississippi River opened three days later, and by September 2, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) resumed limited operations and became fully operational September 7. Although operations resumed, there remains ongoing assessment of needs, and supply chain disruptions also continue.

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