Saying goodbye to Brownwater News
Professional Mariner is updating its newsletter format starting in the new year. Instead of three themed newsletters a month, we will publish one newsletter each week containing a roundup of the most compelling news from the past week.
In other words, the monthly Brownwater newsletter is going away. So are the focused Casualty and Shipbuilding newsletters. But the content that populated these newsletters will be included in the weekly news roundups, which will be published each Tuesday at noon, instead of each Thursday.
We expect this newsletter update will improve these products, which are respected within the industry and favorites of our advertisers.
So, with that, I hope you enjoy this final iteration of Brownwater News, and check back next month for our updated newsletter format.
Kirby to pay $15 million fine stemming from 2014 Galveston collision
Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine LP has agreed to pay $15.3 million in damages and assessment costs under the Oil Pollution Act to resolve federal and state claims for injuries to natural resources resulting from an oil spill from a Kirby barge, after a collision Kirby caused.
The United States and Texas concurrently filed a civil complaint along with a proposed consent decree. The complaint seeks monetary damages and costs under the Oil Pollution Act for injuries to natural resources resulting from Kirby’s March 2014 discharge of approximately 4,000 barrels (168,000 gallons) of oil from one of its barges into the Houston Ship Channel at the Texas City “Y” crossing.
The complaint alleges that the spill resulted from a collision that occurred while a Kirby towboat, Miss Susan, attempted to push two 300-foot-long oil barges across the Houston Ship Channel in front of the oncoming M/V Summer Wind, a 585-foot-long deep-draft bulk cargo ship that was already underway in the channel.
More on the incident, and the penalty, can be found here.
Search ends for crewman missing from riverboat
The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a man overboard from the motor vessel American Queen near Baton Rouge, La.
Rescue crews searched for more than 100 miles of the Lower Mississippi River for the crewmember, who authorities have not identified.
More on the incident can be found here.
MarAd awards grants supporting marine highways
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MarAd) has awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).
The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
The list of grant recipients and the total funding can be found here.
