Inland River News

Ports of Indiana has opened its first international trade office in Ireland to grow cargo shipments and support the launch of a direct Europe-Indiana container service. Maritime trade veteran, Brian Dooley, will lead the new European Trade Office, based in Cork and Kildare, Ireland.In 2024, Ireland made $32.4 billion of shipments to Indiana, according to the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research, more than triple any other country’s total. However, most of these shipments…

For Aimee Andres, the nation’s inland rivers are not an abstract transportation network or a policy talking point. They are personal. Growing up, she spent her formative years around ports, terminals and railroads, watching firsthand how freight moved and how quietly essential inland infrastructure is to the country’s economic engine. That upbringing ultimately led her to a role she has now held for more than a decade: Executive Director of Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals (IRPT).

The advancement of the recently announced America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP) is embraced by the ports in the bi-state St. Louis region as a unique opportunity to play a role in this comprehensive federal framework. The MAP is a blueprint for rebuilding the nation’s maritime strength, increasing the use of technology, enhancing supply chain resilience and expanding domestic industrial capacity. It is estimated that only one percent of all new vessels are currently built in the United States.

Often debated and long-awaited, The White House released its long-anticipated America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP), a 40+ page blueprint aimed at what it calls a new “Maritime Golden Age” for the United States.The document, developed under Executive Order 14269, lays out a four-pillar strategy to rebuild domestic shipbuilding capacity, expand the U.S.-flag fleet, reform maritime workforce development, and strengthen industrial resilience. For U.S. shipbuilders, vessel owners and maritime suppliers…

The American Great Lakes Ports Association (AGLPA), including members Ports of Indiana, the Illinois International Port District (IIPD), and Port Milwaukee, in partnership with the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS), announced today that they will begin a comprehensive market analysis aimed at expanding cargo movement between the Great Lakes and Inland Waterways system.Together, the Great Lakes and Inland Waterways move close to 700 million tons of cargo each year…

Hardik Gajjar, ENV SP, has joined HDR as maritime planning lead for the firm’s growing ports and maritime practice. Based in New Jersey, Gajjar will leverage his experience in maritime and intermodal planning to support port owners and operators around the globe as they pursue more efficient operations and smart infrastructure development.“It’s an honor to join one of the best ports and maritime firms in the industry,” Gajjar said. “I’m looking forward to leveraging HDR’s outstanding cross-sector collaboration to help clients as they assess the impact of emerging trends such as automation…

Hines Furlong Line has taken delivery of the M/V Donny Mudgett, the first vessel completed in its eleven-vessel newbuild program. Built at Intracoastal Iron Works in Bourg, Louisiana, the M/V Donny Mudgett is powered by three Mitsubishi Tier 3 S6R2-Y3MPTAW engines, each delivering 803 horsepower at 1,400 RPM.Donny Mudgett is the first of eleven vessels currently under construction at Intracoastal Iron Works and Eymard Marine Construction & Repair. The program includes five triple-screw and six twin-screw vessels…

This year, AWO marks its 80th anniversary as the tugboat, towboat and barge industry’s advocate, resource and united voice for safe, sustainable and efficient transportation on America’s waterways, oceans and coasts. As we celebrate this milestone, we not only recognize and reflect on 80 years of advocacy for our industry as a key driver of the U.S. economy, but also 80 years of vital work as a safety and sustainability leader and security partner – protecting mariners, communities and our waterways from harm.At a time when the men and women of America’s essential workforce…

Health officials in Argentina said on Wednesday that a test to determine if a crew member on a quarantined grains cargo ship was infected with the mpox virus had come back negative, according to a statement from the health ministry.The crew member, an Indian national who had developed cyst-like skin lesions on his chest and face, was working on the ship that was traveling along a key commodities route near the inland river port city of Rosario.Authorities had quarantined the ship in the Parana River as a precaution.In its statement…

There are many forces pushing stakeholders across the global maritime industry to decarbonize.In the U.S. inland waterways, regulations aren’t one of the main drivers—at least not at the moment, according to Mike Complita, principal and vice president of strategic expansion at Elliott Bay Design Group, a naval architecture firm.Speaking on a panel at the IMX trade show in Nashville, Complita said proposed rules from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are “driving massive change on the West Coast”…

Representatives from Ports of Indiana and Port of Antwerp-Bruges have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance key economic and environmental port initiatives.The agreement formalizes a plan to work together to advance economic development, container shipping, decarbonization, port security and technology integration.The agreement was a result of past collaborations between the ports, a recent trade mission by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb to Belgium in June, and an MoU between the State of Indiana and the Government of Flanders signed Dec.

Laborde Products recently opened a new operational facility in Paducah, Ky., in a move that aims to enhance the company's capacity to provide parts and service support for Mitsubishi engines and other power products to the upriver market.Located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis and Nashville, Paducah is a hub for U.S. inland river shipping.By establishing a presence in the upriver market, Laborde Products can offer faster response times, improved accessibility and a more robust supply chain for our operators, the company said.

KOTUG International, a marine services and towage provider based in the Netherlands, announced on Thursday it has concluded its acquisition of Kotug Seabulk Maritime (KSM), taking full ownership of the Caribbean marine towage business.KOTUG said it has acquired the interest of its joint venture partner, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based SEACOR Holdings via its Seabulk subsidiary KS Maritime Holdings, owner of the 50% share in KSM.Founded in 2017, KSM acts as the exclusive provider of maritime terminal support services for Buckeye Partners’ Bahamas Hub…

Nashville-based Ingram Barge Company announced it has formed a new material handling and supply chain solutions subsidiary, Ingram Infrastructure Group.The move, fueled by the company's acquisitions of Inland River Transport Holdings (SCF) and NexStar Solutions, is intended to enhance Ingram's end-to-end supply chain solutions capabilities.Ingram acquired integrated river transportation and logistics services provider SCF from SEACOR Holdings following the signing of a purchase agreement last October.Ingram currently operates across more than 4,500 miles of the U.S.

SEACOR Holdings Inc. announced it has concluded the sale of its Caribbean liner and logistics business SEACOR Container Lines LLC (“SEACOR Island Lines”) to King Ocean Services Ltd. The transaction includes all operations and assets.King Ocean specializes in marine transportation and logistics solutions to close to 50 destinations across the Caribbean and South and Central America out of their Port Everglades facilities in Ft Lauderdale, Fla.“For 40 years, King Ocean, a multi-generational…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. based SEACOR Holdings Inc. announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its inland river transportation and logistics business to Ingram Barge Company LLC, a division of Nashville-based Ingram Marine Group.Part of the SEACOR family of businesses for over two decades, Inland River Transport Holdings LLC (SCF) includes more than 1,000 covered dry cargo hopper barges, eight 6,000-plus horsepower towboats and a network of terminal and fleeting infrastructure along the Mississippi River.“I am extremely pleased to enter this transaction with Ingram…

There is no shortage of challenges confronting the U.S. barging industry, and executives such as Mike Ellis, CEO at American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), are leading their companies past hurdle after hurdle. The Jeffersonville, Ind.-based company, which owns a fleet of approximately 150 towboats and moves a fleet of some 4,500 barges (including roughly 3,500 operated by ACBL), is focusing on factors it can control while planning and investing for the future.The weatherMother Nature is often unkind to the barging industry.

Jennifer Carpenter has been president and CEO of The American Waterways Operators (AWO) in January 2020, but her time with the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat and barge industry dates back to 1990. This month, she weighs in on top challenges and opportunities currently present in the industry, from difficult regulatory changes to the uptake of cleaner vessel technologies.What are some of the biggest and most important issues facing the tug, towboat and barge industry?Big picture, I feel like our industry has never been more relevant.

Extreme weather events—including both high and low water levels—can wreak havoc on inland waterways transport. In late 2022, severe drought conditions brought the latter to the Mississippi River Basin, underlining the importance of America’s dredging fleet.When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Memphis District's dredge Hurley returned to its home port, Ensley Engineer Yard, in Memphis Harbor, on January 13, 2023, it wrapped its longest, most productive season on record.

U.S. marine terminal and logistics company Enstructure announced Monday that it has acquired Richardson Companies, a terminal and logistics company with primary operations in  Port Houston and the Port of Mobile.Richardson handles a diverse mix of breakbulk cargoes, including steel products, forest products, and project cargo. The company operates approximately one million square feet of industrial warehousing in Houston, Baytown, Freeport, and Mobile.Following the acquisition…

The 2022 Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), scheduled to be held Nov. 15-17, 2022, hosted by Argonne National Laboratory at the Argonne campus in Lemont, Illinois, recently unveiled the full conference program, packed with experts with insights on the challenges facing the inland waterway systems.Click here to read the fulll program for MRS 2022MRS is an annual international event focused on risks involving the global maritime transportation system (MTS). For the MRS, the U.S. Coast Guard partners with the sponsor…

Commercial cargo shipments on Russia's Azovo-Don inland waterways have slumped in 2022 to the lowest level on record amid Western sanctions and traffic suspensions on vessels in the Azov sea, Russian Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) said. The Azovo-Don waterways are used during the summer period as an alternative to railways for the export of cargoes, including oil products from Russian refineries via the ports of the Black and Azov Seas. Rosmorrechflot said the main reason for the decrease in the volume of cargo shipments was the restriction on ship movement through the Sea of Azov, as well as the sanctions imposed against Russian domestic companies and certain types of cargo.