Small Barge News

As summer slowly fades to memory and commercial vessels have less frequent encounters with recreational vessels of all sizes, shapes and descriptions on America’s inland waterways, it might be a good time to review a strange, but not completely unusual incident that occurred in Louisiana on a navigable channel in the lower Mississippi River late last May. A workboat was pushing a small barge through a narrow tributary on a job to deliver it to its destination approximately twelve miles away from where the transit originated.

The port of Antwerp is set to achieve a freight volume of more than 200 million tonnes for the first time ever in 2015. When it comes to containers Antwerp is performing extremely well this year: with expected growth of almost 8% it will easily pass the milestone of 9 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, i.e. standard containers) for the first time in its history. About half of the container volume is currently handled in the port area on the Right bank of the Scheldt, but once the Swiss shipping company MSC transfers its operations to the Deurganck dock then the Left bank will inevitably become the main focus of container handling in Antwerp.

Antwerp is the leading barge port in Europe. Now with its Instream campaign it is showcasing its barge facilities. Each week more than 915 barges call at the port of Antwerp carrying project cargo, containers and dry and liquid bulk to and from northern France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Keeping this barge traffic flowing smoothly requires efficient collaboration between all partners in the chain. Over the past few years this collaboration has led to the development of various digital tools that all share the same goal, namely to make the port of Antwerp more accessible for barges. The Instream campaign draws all these initiatives together, making it clear at a glance how Antwerp stands out from other ports.

Each week more than 915 barges call at the port of Antwerp carrying project cargo, containers and dry and liquid bulk to and from northern France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Keeping this barge traffic flowing smoothly requires efficient collaboration between all partners in the chain. Over the past few years this collaboration has led to the development of various digital tools that all share the same goal, namely to make the port of Antwerp more accessible for barges. The Instream campaign draws all these initiatives together, making it clear at a glance how Antwerp stands out from other ports. The port of Antwerp aims to increase the share of barge transport in the modal mix from the present 36% to 42% by 2030.

Deep in the Louisiana Cajun Country, LA Carriers was founded in 1986 as a small barge management firm. Now shipping in excess of 275,000 net tons of cargo annually, LA Carriers chooses Laborde Products to supply powerful Mitsubishi engines. The third such installation for LA Carriers, it allows the company to fulfill its promise of just-in-time delivery. A recently built 98' tug, M/V Karen Koby, was fitted with twin ABS-certified S12R-Y2MPTK Mitsubishi engines rated 1,260 hp at 1,600 rpm, as well as 50kW FPT generators.

Through a series of coincidental meetings, Southeastern New England Shipbuilding Corporation (SENESCO) was formed by seven individuals with different, unique backgrounds. Although only three of the original seven founders are still involved with the company, the focus remains the same. In fact, the young company is expecting its first delivery this autumn. According to Richard Carpenter, president and director of the company, the seven founders joined up during the winter months of 1993 and 1994. "The driving engine was a series of conferences called 'Navigating Beyond 94,'" he says. Carpenter, who had 30 years experience as a practicing attorney…

When contractors Brasfield & Gorrie accepted a job to rehabilitate a dam for a local power company, their first foray into marine work was far from routine. With no navigable passage into the deep-water side of the 150-ft. tall dam, most workboats couldn't even reach the job site. The Birmingham, Ala.-based company decided a new equipment purchase was their best option. They bought a 25.3 x 14 x 4.5 ft. tugboat and transported it in two pieces that were offloaded by crane and assembled on site. What this job required was a truckable tug. And as the company soon learned there were many more jobs that could take advantage of such a tug.