Corpus Christi Ship Channel News

A tugboat maneuvering near a transiting tanker in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel was drawn in toward the tanker, leading to a collision, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Tuesday.The tugboat Mark E Kuebler and the tanker Nisalah collided in the channel near Ingleside, Texas, on January 22, 2023. The tugboat’s hull was breached by the tanker’s propeller, which was also damaged in the collision. The collision resulted in nearly $7 million in damages. There were…

Galveston, Texas based dredging contractor Callan Marine announced it has christened its newest cutter suction dredge (CSD), General Arnold, built by C&C Marine and Repair in Belle Chasse, La.The 32-inch CSD was ceremoniously christened in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 20, 2024, and will immediately begin work on Phase Four of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project. The project will beneficially reuse 100%of the dredged material removed from the channel deepening and widening.The General Arnold is the newest, largest, and most environmentally friendly dredge in the U.S.

Excessive speed during a bow-to-bow harbor-assist maneuver led to the grounding of the tugboat CC Portland in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Thursday.It is the second marine casualty the NTSB investigated in 2022 caused by excessive speed in azimuthing stern drive, or ASD, tugboats while in the center lead forward position. The NTSB said it continues to encourage owners and operators of ASD tugboats that perform bow-to-bow harbor-assist operations to set speed limits.“The risk of a casualty during these operations with ASD tugboats increases with increasing speed,” NTSB investigators said in the final report. “Higher speed reduces the amount of reserve propulsion power available to the operator.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, approved by Congress in December 2022, includes project closeout funding of $157.3 million for the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This funding will advance the last phase of the CIP, a national critical infrastructure project that will render the Corpus Christi Ship Channel the most improved in the entire U.S. Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. The Port of Corpus Christi is the nation’s largest U.S.

The Port of Corpus Christi reports it experienced double-digit volume growth in the first four months of 2022, establishing new records for tonnage and revenues. Through the end of April its customers moved 59.2 million tons of cargo through the Port of Corpus Christi, representing a 10.4% increase over the prior record set in 2020. These new tonnage records were a result of a 56.2% increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports (5.4 million tons), a 17.8% increase in refined product exports (10.6 million tons)…

The Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project was included in President Joe Biden’s proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Budget released Monday under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Navigation Construction category. The President’s recommended funding targeted project closeout appropriations of $157.3 million. Once approved by Congress, the appropriation would complete the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project, rendering it the most improved ship channel in the entire U.S. Gulf Coast. The Port of Corpus Christi is the largest gateway for U.S.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Friday awarded a $139 million construction contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC. (GLDD), to complete the third phase of the landmark Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project (CIP). The four-phase infrastructure project will increase the Corpus Christi Ship Channel depth from -47 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) to -54 feet MLLW and widen it to 530 feet, with an additional 400 feet of barge shelves.Phase 3 will extend west of the La Quinta Junction through the Chemical Turning Basin in the Port’s Inner Harbor.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. announced Thursday it is moving its corporate headquarters to Houston, positioning the nation’s largest dredging services provider nearer to major regional projects and opportunities. The firm will also open regional offices in Jacksonville, Fla., and Staten Island, N.Y.The move to Houston from from Oak Brook, Ill., which stems in part from changing industry dynamics, places the company closer to key regional customers and new markets, especially along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River…

A lawsuit has been filed in Nueces County, Texas on behalf of a worker who was injured and burned in an explosion and fire that occurred while he was working on the dredge Waymon L. Boyd in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel last month.The dredge worker, Jose Cantu, is among six crew members who were hospitalized after the dredge struck a gas pipeline, causing the vessel to catch fire and sink. Another four personnel on the vessel died.The lawsuit alleges that the dredge owner Orion Marine Group and pipeline owner Epic Midstream “failed to adequately plan the job…

The bodies of the final two crew members missing from a dredge that caught fire and sank in Corpus Christi, Texas were recovered on Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Four personnel working on the Orion Marine Group-owned dredger Waymon L Boyd went missing and six were hospitalized on Friday after the vessel caught fire in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The bodies of the other two missing workers were recovered on Saturday, and the families of all four crew members have been notified…

The bodies of two of four workers missing after a dredging vessel caught fire and sank in Corpus Christi, Texas, were recovered on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Four personnel working on the dredger Waymon L Boyd went missing and six were sent to the hospital on Friday after the vessel caught fire in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The search for the other two missing workers was suspended on Saturday night, Coast Guard officials said.Local authorities had said initially…

Four people are missing and six have been hospitalized for injuries caused by a pipeline explosion in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel on Friday, officials said.The explosion and subsequent fire were reported at about 8 a.m. local time near Nueces Bay in the northern part of the city after a dredge struck a pipeline in the water. The dredge, Waymon L Boyd owned by Houston-based Orion Marine Group, was working on a private project, not the channel deepening work currently underway at the port.The U.S.

Callan Marine's new Jones Act cutterhead suction dredge (CSD) General MacArthur and its accompanying idler barge have entered service in Texas, heading to work on several projects before transiting to Corpus Christi for the second phase of the deepening and widening project.The newest and largest dredger in Callen Marine's fleet, the General MacArthur represents the next generation of dredging technology and crew comfort, said Maxie McGuire, President of Callan Marine.“The General MacArthur is a complete game-changer for the dredging industry,” McGuire said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded a $97.9 million dredging contract on Wednesday to Callan Marine, Ltd., to complete the second phase of the four phase Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project. The project increases the channel depth from -47 feet Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) to -54 feet MLLW, and widens the channel to 530 feet with an additional 400 feet of barge shelves.The newest and largest dredger in the Callen Marine fleet, the General MacArthur, is…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' FY2020 Work Plan release on Monday places dredging at the forefront.“We welcome the FY 2020 Work Plan released by the Army Corps,” said William P. Doyle, CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America. “We’re ready – our dredging companies are hard at work on projects and continue to build new dredging ships for America’s ports, waterways and beaches.”The Work Plan is based on the FY2020 Energy and Water Development appropriations bills signed into law by President Trump in December 2019.In December 2019…

The fourth-largest port in the United States in total tonnage, Port of Corpus Christi has leased land where it hopes to build the nation's first export terminal to load very large crude carriers (VLCC).The Port of Corpus Christi Commission approved today a long-term (50-year) lease agreement with Lone Star Ports, a joint venture between the Carlyle Group and the Berry Group, for approximately 200 acres on Harbor Island to develop a state-of-the-art petroleum export terminal.Featuring the latest in safety, security and environmental technologies, the facility will connect U.S. crude producers with all major international markets.The lease…

Moda Midstream LLC is considering building a second berth at its Ingleside, Texas, crude export terminal to accommodate booming shale oil production on the Gulf Coast, the company's chief executive said on Thursday.The expansion to the terminal that loads oil tankers will come as three major pipelines open in the second half of 2019, CEO Bo McCall said in an interview. Moda is also increasing the facility's crude storage capacity to 10 million barrels from 2 million."When these new pipelines come online…

Liquids terminaling and logistics provider Moda Midstream announced it has successfully commissioned upgrades to Berth 2A at the Moda Ingleside Energy Center (MIEC) in Ingleside, Texas, to enable loading of very large crude carriers (VLCCs).Moda developed these upgrades to provide existing and potential customers the ability to safely and cost-effectively load VLCCs at rates of up to 80,000 barrels per hour.“Today we are loading our fourth VLCC at MIEC since late December,” said Moda President and CEO Bo McCall. “With today’s commissioning of our upgrades to Berth 2A, we now have the U.S. Gulf Coast’s most efficient crude export loading rates.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation announced the receipt of a $93 million contract award for the Corpus Christi Ship Channel Improvement Project.Dredging to deepen the entrance channel will commence during the second quarter of 2019 with completion expected in early 2020 said Great Lakes, the largest provider of dredging services in the United States and a major provider of environmental and infrastructure services.It said that the overall ship channel deepening effort will be comprised of multiple phases, expected to be competitively bid and worked over the next five years. The total estimated contract value of these projects is…

Port of Corpus Christi successfully priced and sold $216.2 million of Senior Lien Revenue Bonds. These bonds will be used for both the deepening and widening of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel as well as upcoming capital projects within the Port.Wells Fargo Securities acted as Lead Manager of a syndicate of underwriters including JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Frost Bank.“We are pleased with the level of interest the institutional investment community demonstrated for both series of our bonds.” said Sean Strawbridge, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi. “This round of funding will help the Port of Corpus Christi further progress our ambitious…

POTAC (Pin Oak) announced the execution of a ten year exclusive use agreement for Suezmax vessels at Public Oil Dock 14 with the Port of Corpus Christi, including extension options, exercisable by the Company, which could extend the agreement for up to an additional ten years.In addition to Suezmax vessels, Pin Oak will be able to efficiently load / unload Aframax, Panamax, and other smaller vessels and barges. This agreement follows the commencement of construction on Pin Oak's nine pipelines crossing under the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, eight of which will connect to Public Oil Dock 14.The dock is designed to load product at a minimum rate of 40…

Post Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts continue at Port Corpus Christi following the Category 4 Hurricane’s devastating strike to the Texas Coast. The full 47-foot (MLLW) draft of the ship channel is open to vessels, and the daylight only transit restriction was removed. With extensive review of hydrographic surveys by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard, the Corpus Christi Ship Channel daylight only transit restrictions were formally lifted by the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday, September 27th. Vessel traffic remains one-way on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. All other restrictions have been lifted. The Corpus Christi Ship Channel closed to all vessel traffic on Thursday, August 24 as Hurricane Harvey was bearing down upon the Texas coast.

Rising U.S. shale oil production will overwhelm the nation's refining capacity, with three-quarters of the additional oil produced in the United States by 2023 shipped to Europe and Asia, according to a new study by consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The research points to the continued impact of U.S. shale on global markets and the mismatch between domestic refining capacity and rising crude output. The oil could bottleneck at U.S. Gulf Coast ports unless new infrastructure is built, researchers said. U.S. refineries will absorb between 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 1 million bpd of the expected 4 million bpd of additional production to emerge from U.S. oil fields, Wood Mackenzie said in a study released on Monday.