Charleston Will be the Deepest Harbor on the US East Coast
This September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District awarded the final two dredging contracts on its harbor deepening project, which will make Charleston’s harbor the deepest on the East Coast.The contract awards also coincided with the arrival September 20 of the CMA CGM Brazil, a 15,072-TEU containership stretching 1,200 feet long, and the largest containership to ever call on the East Coast and Charleston harbor.Charleston was the last stop on its East Coast itinerary…
SC Ports Constructs New Container Terminal
South Carolina (SC) Ports has celebrated the structural completion of the operations building at Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Terminal, a new container terminal along the Cooper River, which will open in March 2021.S.C. Ports celebrated today the structural completion of the terminal’s new operations building. More than 300 people — contractors, port employees, elected leaders and community members — cheered as a steel beam and tree were placed atop the steel structure as part of a traditional “topping out” ceremony.The 34,853-square-foot building, built by Samet Corp., will have offices, meeting spaces, crane operator rest and training areas, and a full-service kitchen, as well as the backup power required to maintain critical infrastructure in the event of a power outage.Sen. Hugh K.
New Floating Drydock for Detyens
Detyens Shipyards, Inc., a staple in Charleston’s maritime community since 1962, took delivery of a newly constructed floating drydock on December 11, 2015. The new 400’ x 108’ floating drydock, which will eventually replace Detyens’ existing floating drydock, was built by Corn Island Shipyard in Indiana. The drydock was pushed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers by Excell Marine’s inland tug boat, the Arthur E Snider. McAllister Towing and Transportation’s ocean towing tug boat, the Eileen McAllister took over the tow in New Orleans for delivery to Detyens Shipyards’ Cooper River facility.
Charleston Harbor to Be Deepened
The South Carolina Ports Authority, Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Coastal Conservation League and the Southern Environmental Law Center announced a milestone agreement for the Post-45 Harbor Deepening Project that includes a port contribution to land conservation efforts along the Cooper River Corridor. SC Ports Authority (SCPA) is partnering with Lowcountry Open Land Trust (LOLT), Coastal Conservation League (CCL) and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) to form a new collaboration that invests in the conservation of the Cooper River Corridor and ensures the timely progress forward of harbor deepening. Pending final approval by the Joint Bond Review Committee later this month…
Odfjell Seeks Purchase of Chem-Marine
Odfjell Terminals has entered into a Letter of Intent to purchase Chem-Marine Corporation of South Carolina. Chem-Marine controls a 25.3 acre/10.2 hectare site through a long term land lease, and is located adjacent to Odfjell's tank terminal in North Charleston, South Carolina. The property is situated on the Cooper River and has a 250 meters deep-water front and a 12.5 meter draft ship berth, with one dedicated stainless steel lines connected to 12,800 cbm of storage in two carbon steel tanks.
Coast Guard Environmental Awards
The US Coast Guard announced the winners of the Rear Admiral William M. Benkert Marine Environmental Protection Awards for 2006. In the large business vessels operations category, the winners are Ocean Shipholdings of Houston; Marathon Petroleum Co. of Ashland, Kentucky; and Matson Navigation Co. of Oakland. In the large business facility operator category, the winners are Dow Chemical Co. of Freeport, Texas; BP Cooper River of Wando, South Carolina; Odjfell Terminals of Houston; , and Todd Shipyard of Seattle. In the foreign business vessel operator category, the winner is BP Shipping of the United Kingdom. In the small business vessel operations category, the winner is US Shipping Partners of Edison, New Jersey.
Clean Up Continues on Cooper River
Clean up crews working on the Cooper River Oil Spill are concentrating their efforts today on the remaining heavily concentrated areas of recoverable oil between Piers Delta and Pier Papa on the Old Navy Base in Charleston. Contractors will also be replacing saturated absorbent boom with new absorbent boom to facilitate collections efforts. To date, more than 700 gallons of oil has been recovered using skimmers, absorbent pads and boom. The spill still remains a mystery but more than 100 people from 10 different federal, state and local agencies are aggressively working to clean up the oil spill. Presently, over $225,000 has been spent on the recovery effort and the ceiling for the clean up was raised from $500,000 to $750,000 today.
Pushing the Tugs in Charleston
"Tug boat sinks, spills diesel fuel" declared the headline in the Local section of the newspaper. And, strictly speaking, the headline was correct. In 1906, The Captain Morgan had been built as a tug. But as the fourth paragraph acknowledged, "The owner was having the boat ... refurbished into a house boat." So would it be more correct, technically speaking, to say "House boat sinks?" It may be a subtle distinction, but subtleties are why people buy newspapers. Houseboaters and pleasure boaters in general, some might imagine, leave no waterborne pollutants in Charleston harbor, while commercial vessels and oil spills were practically synonymous by November 9. And potentially scandalous.
