St Charles Parish News

The U.S. Coast Guard and local agencies are searching for three crew members missing following a collision between two towing vessels on the Mississippi River at mile marker 123, near Luling, La., Sunday.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders in New Orleans were alerted at 5:37 a.m. on Sunday that towing vessels RC Creppel and Cooperative Spirit had collided and that four members of the RC Creppel were missing.The Cooperative Spirit was reportedly transiting upbound on the river when it entered a barge fleeting area and allied with barges before colliding with the towing vessel RC Creppel, causing the RC Creppel to sink and barges to…

U.S.-Flag dredgers answer the call in the Mississippi River Basin.Major flooding this winter in the Mississippi River Basin has created significant increased shoaling in the Southwest Pass Channel of the Mississippi River. Shoaling is generally described as the river containing elevated levels of sand and sediment resulting in high water levels and river swelling. The Southwest Pass, spanning the lower end of the Mississippi River (Baton Rouge, La.) to the Gulf of Mexico, services…

The U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating search efforts for a missing man after an explosion on an oil platform in Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner, La., Sunday evening. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a report from a witness at approximately 8 p.m. of an oil platform explosion. The cause of the incident is unknown. It was reported by one of the platform workers that eight people were aboard at the time of the explosion, and one person did not make it to shore. Of the seven people who made it to shore, six were taken to the hospital. The Coast Guard and partner agencies continue to search for the missing man. Following the initial report…

Kongsberg Maritime has purchased approximately 5.2 acres for new construction on an 82,980 sq ft office and training facility. Construction on the James Business Park property located on James Drive East in St. Rose, Louisiana is scheduled to begin this spring. Kongsberg Maritime moved its service department from Houston to Louisiana in 2003 establishing a small office in James Business Park with nine full-time employees. Growing together with local customers, the Louisiana office now has 110 employees occupying 35,000 sq ft of leased office space.

The government has a plan for responding to your oil spill. Do you? In February, due to a collision between a tug boat and a tank barge, approximately 31,500 gallons of crude oil were released into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was closed down for two days and the residents of St. Charles Parish sat on pins and needles, waiting to find out if their drinking water would be contaminated. Thankfully, the drinking water was not affected, there were no reports of serious environmental damage and the River re-opened several days after the closure. It doesn’t always and happily, however. Unfortunately, the potential for a spill like this is always present when operating vessels.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., will relocate its research and development engineering office from Slidell, La., and shift the Bollinger high-speed vessels group from Lockport, to the James Business Park in St. Rose, La., in October 2004. Mike Ellis, Bollinger executive vice-president and chief operating officer said, "This new location in St. Rose will not only help us better serve our current shipyards from a design and engineering standpoint, but it will also help us attract potential employees to fill our future growth plans. The Slidell research and development office, Bollinger Northshore Engineering, about 45 miles east of the new facility, opened about five years ago. It creates and develops innovative design solutions for commercial and government clients.