Steel Beam News

“Your true pilot cares nothing about anything on earth but the river, and the pride in his occupation surpasses the pride of kings.” -Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi (1883).That statement made by the great chronicler and river pilot over 137 years ago is arguably as true today as it was then. But what has changed dramatically in the almost century and a half since then is the variety and complexity of the daily challenges that river pilots confront on our increasingly busy inland waterways.

South Carolina (SC) Ports has celebrated the structural completion of the operations building at Hugh K. Leatherman Sr. Terminal, a new container terminal along the Cooper River, which will open in March 2021.S.C. Ports celebrated today the structural completion of the terminal’s new operations building. More than 300 people — contractors, port employees, elected leaders and community members — cheered as a steel beam and tree were placed atop the steel structure as part of a traditional “topping out” ceremony.The 34,853-square-foot building, built by Samet Corp., will have offices, meeting spaces, crane operator rest and training areas, and a full-service kitchen, as well as the backup power required to maintain critical infrastructure in the event of a power outage.Sen. Hugh K.

An allision in the maritime sector is defined as an accident in which a moving object strikes a stationary object (bridge fender, bridge deck, dock, dredging vessel, etc.). According to the Maritime Law Association (MLA) such an accident calls the “Oregon Rule” into play. Simply put, the Oregon Rule states that “…when a moving object hits a stationary object, the moving object is presumed at fault. The moving vessel thus has the burden of proving an alternate theory of causation…

The investigative team who located the El Faro’s voyage data recorder (VDR) has determined that another mission will be necessary in order to retrieve the device, which may contain recorded conversations and sounds from the ship’s navigation bridge, potentially helping investigators to piece together the sequence of events that led to the cargo ship’s sinking during Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015. The team of investigators and scientists aboard research vessel Atlantis collaborated…

Precision Is Imperative. The statement made by the great chronicler and river pilot himself over 130 years ago is arguably as true today as it was then. But what has changed dramatically in the six score and 10 years since is the variety and complexity of the daily challenges that river pilots confront in our modern world. The sophistication of locks, dams and the proliferation of bridges, the mercurial fluctuations in water levels and the consequences to those who fail to factor in all of the above when planning their commercial river trips can be career killers.

The Coast Guard, along with other federal and local law enforcement agencies responded to a suspected terrorist threat aboard a cargo ship at Port Hueneme, Calif., on Monday, June 26. The Coast Guard received a report from the Director of Operations at the Oxnard Harbor District that a threatening message was discovered written on a steel beam in the cargo hold of the M/V Wild Lotus. The Port Hueneme Police Department, in coordination with the Oxnard Harbor District, closed the main gate of the port to control vehicle traffic flow and facilitate an uninterrupted investigation without completely closing the port. The Ventura County Sheriff’s bomb sniffing K-9 unit searched the Wild Lotus and as a safety precaution, searched two other vessels and warehouses in the port.