Queen Isabella Causeway News

1944- Coast Guardsmen participated in the invasion of Morotai Island. 1948- After making a night-long high speed run to reach the hurricane-ridden Portuguese schooner Gasper some 300 miles off the southern tip of Newfoundland, USCGC Bibb launched two 20-man rubber lifeboats in heavy rain and seas to rescue 40 survivors and 1 dog from the doomed ship. 1958- A New Jersey Central passenger train plunged into Newark Bay through an open drawbridge, submerging two engines and two coaches. Coast Guard small craft and helicopters assisted in rescuing 43 survivors and recovering 29 bodies. 1995-Hurricane Marilyn made landfall, cutting a path of destruction across the U.S. Virgin Islands. GANTSEC Command Center coordinated the SAR efforts.

1944- Coast Guardsmen participated in the invasion of Morotai Island. 1948- After making a night-long high speed run to reach the hurricane-ridden Portuguese schooner Gasper some 300 miles off the southern tip of Newfoundland, USCGC Bibb launched two 20-man rubber lifeboats in heavy rain and seas to rescue 40 survivors and 1 dog from the doomed ship. 1958- A New Jersey Central passenger train plunged into Newark Bay through an open drawbridge, submerging two engines and two coaches. Coast Guard small craft and helicopters assisted in rescuing 43 survivors and recovering 29 bodies. 1995-Hurricane Marilyn made landfall, cutting a path of destruction across the U.S. Virgin Islands. GANTSEC Command Center coordinated the SAR efforts.

Delta Towing LLC and Signet Maritime Corporation began work on a period contract to the Texas Department of Transportation with four tugboats and three barges, providing navigational support to the ferryboat system between Port Isabel and Padre Island. The problems resulting from collision damage to the Queen Isabella Causeway on September 15 required a new ferry system be in place with tugboat and barge landing operations implemented providing for safety of ferry navigation to and from the two ports. According to Delta Towing President, Bucky Monteiro, the primary objective of the partnership between these three entities will be Safety First. The main operations center will be under direction of Captain Scott Cowan, based in Signet’s Brownsville office.

This year, The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, celebrates its 60th anniversary. AWO members, representing the inland, coastal and harbor sectors of the industry, recently marked this milestone at its Spring Convention, recalling the reasons for the association's founding and recognizing the remarkable evolution of the industry over the past six decades. AWO was formed in 1944 in the midst of emerging regulations, priorities and demands for transportation during World War II. Today, AWO members account for 80 percent of the towing industry's active fleet.