Port Lavaca News

A dredge barge that was taking on water has been intentionally grounded in the Matagorda Ship Channel near Port Lavaca, Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi were notified on Monday evening that the dredge barge Everett Fisher began taking on water. The towing vessel Dana Robyn pushed the bareg aground and recovered the four crewmembers aboard.No injuries or pollution have been reported.Coast Guard air and boat crews are on scene.

This being the “Yearbook” edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News, it would be remiss to not have coverage of LNG, one of the hottest fueling trends in maritime circles, particularly in North America. For a unique insight on a rapidly evolving market, MR caught up with Edward Scott, COO, Excelerate Energy, which is making big strides in the LNG Regasification sector, and recently received on the of the world’s largest and most capable units, the FSRU Experience which he touts as the world’s largest and most capable FSRU.

Amongst the latest listing of US Department of Defense contracts, RLB Contracting of Port Lavaca, Texas, has been awarded a USD$8,286,850 firm-fixed-price contract for deep draft maintenance dredging of the Houston Ship Channel from Carpenters to Greens. Work will be performed in Houston, Texas, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston, Texas, is the contracting activity. Estimated completion date is Oct. 20, 2014.

The Coast Guard informs that it continues clean up operations in the Port of Houston/Galveston after having authorized limited marine traffic in the safety zone for commercial ship traffic, Tuesday. The Port Coordination Team is prioritizing ships for transit through the channel. Barges are being allowed to transit through the Houston Ship Channel and on the Intracoastal Waterway, after assessment teams deemed the channel clear. Cleanup efforts focused heavily on the environmentally sensitive lagoon area of East Beach Tuesday.

T.W. LaQuay Dredging, Inc., Port Lavaca, Texas, was awarded in Sept. 29, 2009 a $13,612,660 firm-fixed-price contract.  The work consists of approximately 2,297,000 cubic yards of maintenance dredging with a shallow draft pipeline dredge; Levee work at confined placement area No. 112B.  Work is to be performed in Brazoria and Matagorda Counties, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2010.  Four bods solicited with four bids received.  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District, Galveston Texas, is the contracting activity (W912HY-09-C-0037).

RLB Contracting, Inc, Port Lavaca, Texas was awarded on July, 17, 2009 a $ 9,670,148 firm-fixed-price contract to Freeport Harbor, Texas, Inner Harbor and turning basin in Brazoria County, Texas, Levee construction and dredging. The work consist of raising dredged placement levee by truck haul, replacing drop-outlets structures, dredging of material and depositing it in a placement are. Work is to be performed on Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. Twenty bids were solicited with five bids received. USA Engineer District, Galveston, Texas is the contracting activity (W912HY-09-C-0014).

U.S. Coast Guard units operating in the Houston - Galveston area of responsibility have as of 4 p.m. Tuesday processed 51 reports of pollution and repaired or replaced 40 percent of critical aids to navigation damaged or missing in the wake of Hurricane Ike.Of the 51 pollution reports, 15 incidents require active cleanup, 14 require passive action and 22 require no further action by the Coast Guard. The reports cover a range of incidents including the discharge of petroleum products from storage tanks that have been damaged and/or are submerged in flood waters, the discharge of fuel from submerged machinery and sunken or damaged vessels in marinas, and natural gas leaks. A pipeline in , leaking natural gas from a valve currently under six feet of water.

The 32-ft. tow boat Iron Ox sank April 4 during a storm in the Matagorda Ship Channel. The storm's winds averaged 40 to 50 knots with gusts up to 60. No one was hurt and pollution is minimal, but the wreckage is blocking the ship channel. The Matagorda Ship Channel is the only access for large ships to the port of Point Comfort, Texas. Presently there are four ships awaiting transit. Investigators from U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Satellite Office Port Lavaca, Texas, are overseeing salvage operations and investigating the cause of the sinking. The Iron Ox sank while still attached by cable to the dredge it was tending, between channel markers 43 and 44, near Magnolia, Texas. The tow cable and heavy seas from the storm are slowing salvage operations.

A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Port O'Connor rescued three men off the sinking tug, Charles Alfred, May 27 in San Antonio Bay, approximately six miles south of Seadrift, Texas.The crew of the Charles Alfred contacted the Coast Guard at 9:25 p.m. and reported that they were sinking. Two boat crews from Station Port O'Connor, Texas, and a helicopter crew from Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, responded. The three crewmembers were safely rescued from the tug and taken to Station Port O'Conner.The Charles Alfred was towing a barge, carrying 9,700 barrels of cyclohexane, alongside when it began to sink. The barge is keeping the tug from completely sinking. Both are in shallow water and are not blocking any ship traffic.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation , has delivered a new rigid-bottom, soft-sided pilot boat to the Matagorda Bay pilots in Port Lavaca, Texas. This is the shipyard’s second Resilient Class launch, following delivery of a similar RIB to the Charleston, S.C. pilots last year. The jet-driven, all-aluminum Matajet measures 43’ (13m) overall. It has a 13’10” (4.2m) beam, including the hybrid foam/air collar, and a shoal 2’5” (.75m) draft. Designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates, the deep-V hull features a steep 22-degree dead-rise at the transom that increases to a very fine entry forward. A flat chine and multiple spray-rails provide an efficient running surface and deflect spray away from the collar to produce a dryer ride and reduce collar maintenance.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has extended, until September 4, the comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the Matagorda Ship Channel improvement project. A meeting to receive public comment on the plan will be held in Port Lavaca on August 9. Source: HK Law

The US Army Corps of Engineers will host a meeting in Port Lavaca, Texas on June 5 to receive public comment on the Matagorda Ship Channel Improvement Project. Written comments should be submitted by July 2. 72 Fed. Reg. 28032 Source: HK Law

ST. LOUIS - More than 4,000 Coast Guardsmen continue to save lives and assess the damage to waterways, aids to navigation, the environment and maritime transportation system infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Rita. To date, the Coast Guard has rescued 120 people imperiled by flood waters and has medically evacuated two others from hospitals in the hurricane-impacted area. Coast Guard rescuers continue to work closely with local and state officials as well as the Department of Defense, to determine the number of people in need of rescue and to ensure help is delivered as swiftly as possible. Two Disaster Response Units (DRUs) were dispatched to the Lake Livingston, Texas, area while three more DRUs were deployed to Port Arthur, Texas, to aid in relief efforts.