Grain Products News

A public-private partnership between the state of Louisiana, the Port of New Orleans and two global maritime industry leaders will build a $1.8 billion container facility on the Lower Mississippi River, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced.The new Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) in St. Bernard Parish will be able to serve vessels of all sizes, increasing Louisiana’s import and export capacity and stimulating the creation of more than 17,000 new jobs statewide by 2050, Port NOLA estimates.New Jersey-based Ports America…

Purpose-built for storage challenges brought on by climate change and geopolitical tensions, TeleSense has introduced its cellular SensorSpear Monitors to protect post-harvest grain.TeleSense, a post-harvest grain monitoring innovator, recently introduced a Cellular SensorSpear intended to give grain managers and barge operators an easy and reliable way to accurately monitor stored grain, ensuring grain quality while reducing spoilage and safety concerns.Inserted into piles of stored grain, the Cellular SensorSpear sends temperature and moisture data to the cloud where TeleSense machine learning algorithms analyze the data and alert users to any anomalies and issues that may arise.

Prominent on this year's prestigous MarineNews MN100 list is Robert Allan Ltd. Robert Allan Ltd. is a recognized world leader in innovative Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering with a particular focus on harbor and seagoing tugs, shallow draft towing vessels and fireboats for major world ports. Robert Allan Ltd. has won many awards for their design work from a variety of publications and other organizations.The Company:Robert Allan Ltd. is Canada’s most senior consulting Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, B.C. in 1930.

St. Louis Region’s Agriculture Freight Network Poised for Growth as Handling Capacity Increases along a 15-mile section of the Mississippi River. Located in the heartland of America, one 15-mile section of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis, Missouri, region delivers the highest level of grain barge handling capacity anywhere along the Mississippi River. Known as the “Agriculture or Ag Coast” of America in terms of barge transfer facilities for agricultural products, local stakeholders also know that in order to sustain and grow this impressive market share…

As cargo handling capacity increases along the Mississippi River, this 15-mile section of the Mighty Mississippi is being called the Ag Coast. Located in the heartland of America, one 15-mile section of the Mississippi River in the St. Louis, Missouri, region delivers the highest level of grain barge handling capacity anywhere along the Mighty Mississippi. In fact, it is now being called the “Agriculture or Ag Coast” of America in terms of barge transfer facilities for agricultural products. To sustain and grow this impressive market share, infrastructure investment in multimodal interconnectivity is critical. And as production and demand for commodities like corn and soybeans continue to increase, the St.

A new fleet of pusher tugs and barges for Louis Dreyfus Company have recently begun construction in Brazil, all to customized designs from Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, Canada. The vessels will transport bulk grain products on the Amazon River system, with an expected delivery in 2017. During the early phases of design, extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to optimize the hull shapes to minimize total convoy resistance. In all cases, the z-drives are fitted in customized tunnels designed to optimize flow and propulsion efficiency while reducing draft.

“November was a good month for the export of agricultural products and shipments of aluminum ingots on the Great Lakes Seaway System,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Under the binational trade development program known as ‘Highway H2O’, the U.S. Sutton added, “The U.S. Great Lakes ports of Toledo, Ohio; Duluth, Minn.; Burns Harbor, Ind.; and Milwaukee, Wis. handled corn, soybeans and wheat exports bound for Europe, South America, and Central America.

On March 1, Jan Dieleman assumed the leadership of Cargill’s Ocean Transportation business with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Dieleman took over the position of Roger Janson who has managed the business successfully since 2011 and now heads Cargill’s Agricultural Supply Chain enterprise in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Dieleman is moving to the position after leading Cargill’s North America Power and Gas business since 2014. After joining the company in 1999, he has gained his expertise working in various roles in grain products and freight trading as well as thermal energy. Cargill’s North America Power and Gas business will be led by Mike Newman who takes over the role of Dieleman.

A number of claims and disputes have arisen where cargoes of Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) originating from the United States have been rejected by Chinese receivers. The cargoes were rejected on the basis of color. If the color of the DDGS is dark, the receiver may look to reject it. Incidents of this type were first reported in October 2015 but they continue to occur and it is apparent that a number of DDGS shipments have been affected. DDGS is used as animal feed and is a by-product of ethanol production.

Colombian authorities detained a vessel operated by China's largest shipping group for illegally transporting thousands of cannon shells, about 100 tonnes of gunpowder and other materials used to make explosives, the attorney general's office said. The Da Dan Xia, operated by Cosco Shipping Co Ltd , was headed for Cuba when it was stopped on Saturday in the northern port of Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, after the materials were detected during an inspection. The cargo was listed in the records of the 28,451 deadweight-tonne ship as grain products. The captain of the Hong Kong-flagged vessel had been arrested, the attorney general's office said.

Colombian authorities detained a China-flagged ship traveling to Cuba for illegally transporting around 100 tons of gunpowder and other materials used to make explosives and arrested the captain, the attorney general's office said. The vessel was stopped on Saturday in the northern port of Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, after the materials were detected during inspection. The cargo was listed in the ship's records as grain products. "Around 100 tons of powder, 2.6 million detonators…

Algoma Central Corporation announces the arrival in Canada and the christening of its second Equinox Class bulk cargo vessel, the 'Algoma Harvester'. The christening took place at Pier 26 South in Hamilton Harbour before an audience that included local dignitaries and members of the marine industry. Mrs. Kathy Baske, wife of Jim Baske, the President and CEO of ArcelorMittal Dofasco imparted the traditional blessing. As is customary for these ceremonies, a bottle of champagne was broken against the bow of the ship, a banner revealing the ship's name was unveiled, and Father David Mulholland of the Mission to Seafarers offered prayers and other words of inspiration to the Canadian crew of the ship. Alogma explains that the  Equinox-Class represents the next generation of Great Lakes - St.

Answering the needs of longstanding clients, bulk transport giant AEP dips its toes into the liquid transport arena. AEP River Operations needs no introduction for most MarineNews readers. One of the true river giants operating on America’s domestic inland waters today, AEP is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and is primarily known as a barge company that provides transportation of dry bulk commodities throughout the inland river system. AEP River Operations is owned by American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 million customers in 11 states. The current AEP fleet includes more than 79 towboats ranging up to 11,000 horsepower and more than 2,900 hopper barges, moving more than 65 million tons annually.

Unionized container truck drivers set up picket lines at Canada's largest port on Monday, joining hundreds of non-unionized workers who walked off the job last month in a dispute over pay and services. They will now join a nearly two-week long strike by non-unionized drivers, which has already crippled operations at the busy port, hitting the export of commodities like lumber and specialized grain products, and the import of consumer goods. "The impact of truckers walking off the job is in the order of about C$885 million ($796.9 million) per week…

Container truck drivers at Canada's largest port reached a new deal on Thursday, narrowly avoiding an expanded job action that would have seen some 400 unionized drivers join about 1,200 non-unionized drivers who walked off the job last week. The tentative agreement, which addresses demands made by both unionized and non-unionized drivers at Port Metro Vancouver, came after a morning of intense discussions with a government-appointed mediator and could help get hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products back on the roads. "We have now secured a deal that will hopefully get things back to normal at the port by early next week," said Gavin McGarrigle, British Columbia area director for Unifor, which represents the unionized drivers.

Unionized container truck drivers at Canada's largest port voted on Saturday to join a strike by their non-unionized colleagues, who walked off the job on Wednesday over a long-running dispute about pay and services. Unifor, which represents about 400 container truck drivers at Port Metro Vancouver, said its drivers voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining the four-day-old work action. The unionized workers must give 72-hour notice before walking off the job. Both groups are demanding that the port streamline operations to improve wait times or pay drivers a fair hourly wage while waiting. They are also asking for better, standardized pay rates to discourage under-cutting.

Mackay Marine, a division of Mackay Communications, Inc., has expanded its operations with the opening of two new marine-electronics service locations in Corpus Christi, Texas and Panama City, Panama. The addition of these facilities, coupled with the opening of Mackay Rotterdam BV in May 2009, gives customers 15 U.S. locations, two Mackay International service centers, and 90+ international marine service agency affiliations to choose from. Mackay’s goal is to meet the increasing regional and international demand in southeastern Texas and Panama, while establishing itself as a cornerstone of consistent, high quality marine service in these progressive ports.

Due to rising flood waters, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is closing nine locks and dams on the upper . Lock 16 in , was the first to close on Thursday, June 12. The last to close will be Lock 25 in . The closures will temporarily halt barge traffic on more than 200 miles of the UMR. The Corps of Engineers notified industry of the closures on Sunday June, 8 and update industry and other stakeholders daily. Industry representatives have reported that they have had plenty of warning to get their boats moved out of the closed portion of the river to avoid being trapped.

Since planting its roots in 1925 as a small coal delivery business known as the Ohio River Company (ORCO), Midland Enterprises has evolved from one chartered boat and four barges to more than 85 boats and 2,400 barges moving the entire eastern inland waterways system. Established by Albert Converse Ingersoll, the Ohio River Company's main focus at that time was to float West Virginia coal to Cincinnati using its premiere boat — the E.D. Kenna. Built for its newest customer, Cincinnati Gas & Electric (the company's longest running business relationship), the vessel cost $179,325 in 1926. Subsequent to this successful venture, the company's demand continued to grow, causing a need for added capital. Ingersoll called upon C.E.

Hudson Bay Port Company, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, has received its first vessel of the 2005 shipping season. The MV Federal Polaris, a bulk carrier, docked at Churchill on July 28, 2005. The ship's arrival signals what is presently expected to be a positive season with a forecast of 500,000 tonnes of grain products. In addition, efforts to diversify import and export opportunities for the port continue. Over three days the Port Company loaded the MV Federal Polaris to capacity with 30,000 tonnes of wheat. The ship departed on July 31 for delivery of the cargo to Lagos, Nigeria. Transportation of the wheat to the Churchill Port was via the Hudson Bay Railway, a 900-mile rail route linking Churchill to farmers and shipping interests throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada.

A Bulgarian freight ship was re-floated two days after it grounded east of the Brunswick harbor entrance. Three towing vessels from Savannah and Brunswick were contracted by the Coast Guard to assist in the emergency operation, Jacksonville-based First Coast News said. Koznitsa, a vessel owned by Bulgaria's state shipping company Navibulgar, remained anchored for further inspection. It was headed to sea after loading grain products in Brunswick, but ran aground on Saturday. The cause of the incident is being investigated. Source: Novinite

(This is Part I of a two-part series on the Articulated Tug Barge from Robert P. Hill. The American coastwise shipping business has grown in a way that differs from many other nations. The high cost of manning and building ships has led over the years to a coastwise transportation network dominated by tugs and barges. • Weather delays caused by the uncertainties of towing of a barge in heavy weather, especially a barge carrying petroleum and chemical products, are a constant problem. Towing a large barge in heavy seas just off the coast is a risky business. The possibility of parted towlines, (not to mention the reality in several hundred cases) and lost, drifting barges, has haunted tug and barge operators - as well as the customers they serve - for years.