U.S.Barge Traffic Left High & Dry in River Mississippi
The Lake Providence Port is high and dry through drought after U.S. Army Corps of Engineers abandoned efforts to dredge its access channel. Louisiana farmers scramble to find other avenues to ship as much as 1 million tons of corn and soybeans out of the region. An average of 850,000 tons of grain is shipped from the Lake Providence Port annually during harvest season, but bumper crops of corn and soybeans are expected from northeastern Louisiana farmers, which could have pushed that amount above 1 million tons. Port Director Wyly Gilfoil sent an e-mail to state lawmakers Friday informing them the port currently can't load barges because of low water levels on the Mississippi River.
Fire Strikes Providence Dock as Tanker Unloading
According to reports, a fire broke out at a Motiva Enterprises LLC fuel terminal dock in Providence, Rhode Island, on Tuesday night, shutting the terminal. A 25,000-ton capacity Danish-flagged gasoline tanker was preparing to discharge its cargo when the fire occurred, according to a U.S. Coast Guard official. Both the Coast Guard and Motiva, a joint venture of Saudi Refining and Royal Dutch Shell's Shell Oil, said the cause of the fire was under investigation. It could not be confirmed that the blaze was caused by lightning, though officials could confirm there were storms in the area Tuesday night. The tanker Nordeuropa, owned by Norden in Denmark, suffered damage to its hydraulic pump systems and melted oil discharge hoses, the Coast Guard said.
