Main Channel News

The U.S. Transportation Department on Friday said it reached an agreement with Baltimore County to revise an $8.26 million grant agreement to enable Tradepoint Atlantic (TPA) to accommodate more cargo.Repurposing the funds will allow a boost in cargo to Sparrows Point at the Port of Baltimore, which is outside the area affected by last week’s collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and continues to move cargo.The changes will enable Baltimore County and TPA to speed paving at least 10 acres that will be used for an additional cargo laydown area by the end of April…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it expects to open a new channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April, freeing up commercial shipping blocked by a collapsed bridge, and then restore port access to full capacity by the end of May.The main channel has been blocked by wreckage since the fully loaded container ship Dali lost power and rammed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six road workers and causing the highway bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.The Army Corps…

The Unified Command continues to coordinate response operations to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse despite the challenging weather conditions which included severe thunderstorms and high winds on Wednesday.Trained crews, in conjunction with the Unified Command, are conducting routine salvage assessments. Divers are on scene to conduct underwater surveys along with mapping out plans for future wreckage removal. “Our operations continue but will be adjusted as necessary in response to any adverse weather conditions,” said U.S.

Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday but most commercial shipping remains blocked by the collapsed bridge and stranded container ship that brought the structure down a week ago.A team including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Maryland announced crews had cleared a channel with a depth of 14 feet (4.3 meters), similar to the 11-foot channel opened on the opposite side of…

Argentina's Parana River, a global grains thoroughfare, reopened to shipping traffic on Tuesday after a grounded ship was freed, though vessels were told to load less grain while the damage to the channel was assessed.Shipping traffic had been snarled after the ship Clara Insignia, loaded with wheat, ran aground near the waterway's main channel and was stuck for several days, blocking the channel down river from the Rosario grains port hub.The bulk carrier was freed late on Monday…

A vessel carrying wheat that ran aground near the main channel of South America's Parana River has been freed but the waterway remains closed while checks are being made, the Argentine Naval Prefecture said on Tuesday.The vessel ran aground on Feb.17 and "was heading outbound in laden condition, navigating with a draft of 10.23 meters and carrying 31,121 metric tons of wheat," Inchcape Shipping said in a notice.The Parana River runs through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

Jennifer Carpenter has been president and CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO) in January 2020, but her time with the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry dates back to 1990. This month, she weighs in on top challenges and opportunities currently present in the industry, from difficult regulatory changes to the uptake of cleaner vessel technologies.What are some of the biggest and most important issues facing the tug, towboat and barge industry?Big picture, I feel like our industry has never been more relevant.

A critical channel deepening project that will help move cargo more efficiently to and from the U.S. advanced Monday after the Long Beach Harbor Commission concluded an extensive environmental review process and greenlit the endeavor.The work will also allow the port to welcome newer cleaner, and more efficient cargo vessels. The Port of Long Beach and the federal government will share the costs, estimated at almost $170 million. The port’s portion is estimated at $109 million.“By improving navigation in Long Beach Harbor…

A software problem that blocked all ship traffic in the main channel between the Baltic and the North Sea on Sunday was not a hacker attack and has been fixed, a spokesperson for Germany's Kiel Canal Waterways and Shipping Authority said on Monday.The incident was caused by the installation of a new vessel traffic management software system, the spokesperson said.Fixing a small error in the code allowed the channel to go back into full operation after more than 12 hours of outage, the spokesperson added."The traffic controller went down at 8 o'clock yesterday morning.

Seven grains ships stranded at Argentina's export hub of Rosario will be towed free and sent out to sea after they were loaded with more produce than could be carried on the port's increasingly shallow waters, local authorities said on Friday.Rosario traffic has been snarled in the aftermath of a 48-hour strike by tugboat captains and other workers managing the flow of agricultural cargo ships.Seven ships, six of them large Panamax vessels, loaded with soymeal, corn and other farm products were moored at Rosario during the work stoppage.

The U.S. dredging fleet is growing. Presently on order and under construction is a raft of in-demand equipment that will help to keep America’s ports and waterways open, safeguard coastal communities and maintain the vital flow of maritime commerce to, from and through the U.S.In August, Eastern Shipbuilding Group cut first steel for a new trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) it is building for Weeks Marine, and the keel was laid the following month at the builder’s Allanton Shipyard in Panama City, Fla. The new 6,540 cubic meter capacity dredge R.B.

The Netherlands based Royal IHC said it has been awarded a contract to design and build a Jones Act compliant dredger for the North Carolina State Ports Authority (NCSPA) for delivery in 2021.The water injection dredger will be built at a partner shipyard in the U.S.“The construction, procurement of the main components, assembly and testing will be performed in the United States (following the Jones Act regulations) and is being managed by the local IHC operations team based in Houston,” said Projects & Services Director Rafael Vorcaro.

Radar confusion and speed cited in ferry groundingWhile the perennial issue of commercial vessel and recreational boat collisions, near misses and allisions with navigational aids are certainly nothing new, in much of  the navigable waters of the United States they are typically associated with the warmer weather of late spring, summer and early fall when privately-owned boats abound on the nation’s lakes, rivers, bays and sounds.But even after the cabin cruisers, sailboats, jet skis…

A tugboat captain's Merchant Mariner Credential has been suspended after it was determined that he was operating his vessel under the influence of alcohol during a grounding incident in eastern Virginia.On November 14, 2019, the tugboat Niki Jo C drifted off course and ran aground outside the main channel of the Rappahannock River.In conducting their investigation, the US Coast Guard, the Virginia Marine Resource Commission and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office tested the crew's blood alcohol content to determine if alcohol was a causative factor. The results showed that the captain of the vessel was intoxicated at the time of the incident…

A rescue diver from China who made a series of underwater dives to rescue three people from a sunken cargo ship will receive the 2018 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery At Sea.A Panel of Judges decided that the rescue merited the highest award. The decision was endorsed by the IMO Council at its 120th session in London (2-5 July).Following a collision with another ship, in Guangzhou Port, China, in the early morning of November 27, 2017, the bulk carrier M.V.Jin Ze Lun sank. Of the 14 crew on board, two were immediately rescued by local maritime authorities but 12 remained missing.

Port Tampa Bay approved a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement with four other entities to divvy up who will pay for a $60 million widening and extension of the Big Bend Channel. The strategic partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Tampa Electric Co. and Mosaic Co., a global fertilizer company which is one of port's largest tenants along with Tampa Electric. The port's board of commissioners unanimously approved the participation agreement at a monthly meeting on Tuesday. The Big Bend Channel connects to the Tampa Harbor main channel and will be deepened from 34 feet to 43 feet and widened from 200 feet to 250 feet to accommodate larger ships.

The Port of Long Beach said it has taken another step toward building two new stations to house fireboats and provide emergency response for one of the nation’s major commercial gateways. On Monday, Harbor Commissioners approved engineering design services for Fireboat Stations Nos. 15 and 20. The Commission also approved a baseline project budget of $50.1 million for the first station to be built: Fireboat Station No. 15. will be located on the Main Channel, and is scheduled to be completed in 2020. The second station, Fireboat Station No.

The Madrid Maersk, the latest in a long line of record-breaking containerships, arrived on June 6, 2017 at the Port of Felixstowe’s newest quay, its first port of call in Northern Europe on its maiden voyage. As the world’s current biggest containership (weighing in at 214,286 metric tons, and a massive 399 meters long, with a beam of 58.6m), the Madrid Maersk is expected to set a record for carrying the maximum number of standard-sized containers (TEU) on its return leg to Asia.

Organizers of this summer’s inaugural LA Fleet Week 2016 are in full planning mode for the week-long call of U.S. Navy ships on the LA Waterfront  in the days leading up to and including Labor Day Weekend. Friday September 2, through Monday September 5, big crowds are expected to converge at the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center for Naval vessel ship tours and a variety of exhibits and activities along the main channel that will bring together the public and more than 1,500 military personnel descending on the nation’s largest trade gateway for the end-of-summer celebration. Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard tradition in New York, San Francisco and a number of other port cities.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) Board today voted to approve to execute a Project Partnering Agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and MassDOT to start the Boston Harbor Dredging Project. A signed agreement allows the ACOE to bid contracts for construction on a Confined Aquatic Disposal cell (CAD cell), which is needed for the maintenance dredging of the Inner Harbor Main Ship Channel. Maintenance dredging will restore the inner harbor to 40 feet and is the first phase of the larger dredging project. Without maintenance dredging, the harbor will continue to silt, leading to increased transit times, economic inefficiencies, and navigational safety concerns.

The Mariners’ Advisory Committee for the Bay and River Delaware, the Pilots Association for the Bay and River Delaware, and the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay applaud the inclusion of a $4.6 million request for aids to navigation, or ATONs, in President Obama’s FY17 U.S. Coast Guard budget justification. "Thanks to efforts last year by Sens. Cory Booker, Robert Casey, Christopher Coons, and Robert Menendez, the president's FY17 budget includes a proposal for an additional $4.6 million for U.S. Coast Guard to improve safety and navigation aids on the Delaware River," said Jonathan Kemmerley, chairman of the Mariners’ Advisory Committee. "I was encouraged to see the president's budget request include $4.6 million to be used for improving navigation on the Delaware River.

An estimated 7,500 to 9,000 gallons of Jet A aviation fuel has spilled within Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and into the Potomac River, Friday. A Unified Command consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard; Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority personnel, including Airport Operations and Fire and Rescue; D.C. Department of Energy and Environment, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and D.C. Harbor Patrol has been established and is responding to the spill. Airport operations have not been impacted.