In early May, Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Fla., delivered the 90-foot Brian Boudreaux, the 68th vessel in a series of inland pushboats. The 3,000-hp, conventionally propelled vessel is named for a longtime billing manager at the Mandeville, La., towing firm. Although navigation electronics, engines and interior outfitting evolved with the times, the core design has remained virtually unchanged since Rhonda Lamulle left Eastern in early 2006. Jeff Brumfield, Florida Marine’s director of vessel construction and engineering, hasn’t forgotten that day. “The first one was delivered Feb. 22, 2006,” he said in a recent interview. “I remember it to the hour.” The Canal class remains the largest single-vessel, single-shipyard order in U.S. history, and two more tugs are under construction. Those two, bringing the order total to 70 vessels, are…
Springtime on the Kaskaskia River saw a smothering flood of water and the delivery of a new pushboat for Southern Illinois Transfer (SIT). Barbour JB Shipyard, an SIT partner company on the Kaskaskia at Baldwin, Ill., built the 68-by-28-foot Karl E. Johnson. The 1,500-hp harbor tug has propulsion from twin Tier 3 Cummins diesels. As of mid-May, it was undergoing final outfitting. Several design and machinery variations distinguish Karl E. Johnson from most towboats plying U.S. inland waterways. One is the double-chine Barbour hull. Another is the first installation of Veth z-drive propulsion on a new Midwest towboat. But first, a little history to explain the path that led to these characteristics. Southern Illinois Transfer was founded by the Brown family in 1961 as a harbor service company in St.…
House proposes funding increase for Civil Works The first appropriations bills of the year, including the Energy and Water Development Bill, are expected to be taken up by the House before the July 4 recess. There had been no Senate action on the bills as of mid-June.
The House measure would fund the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program at $7.36 billion, increasing the current year’s funding by more than $350 million and rejecting the Trump administration’s proposed 30 percent cut.
Construction would be funded at $2.34 billion, including six new project starts. Operation and maintenance would receive $3.92 billion while the Mississippi River and Tributaries account would receive $350 million. Spending from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund would be $1.7 billion, $100 million more than the target set…
Until recently, the Shipping Act of 1984 never explicitly addressed the topic of joint negotiation of harbor towing contracts. But in January 2017, when the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) voted to allow an alliance of four ocean carriers to engage in this practice, alarms sounded among U.S. tugboat operators. The American Waterways Operators (AWO) voiced its concerns to Congress that year and received bipartisan support. The resulting legislative effort, which also involved organizations representing ports, culminated in passage of the FMC Authorization Act of 2017. The bill, signed by President Trump in December as part of the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act, amends the Shipping Act and forbids ocean carriers from collectively negotiating contracts for towing, while preserving the carriers’ limited antitrust immunity. “We see (collective negotiation) as just…
The nonprofit trade association that administers the drug and alcohol testing compliance program for more than 400 vessel operators in the United States contends the Coast Guard’s new rules for random testing go too far and are unwarranted. In the interest of safety of maritime workers, passengers, property and the environment, the Coast Guard requires random drug testing of crewmembers who perform safety-sensitive duties on commercial vessels. Marine employers are required to maintain a record of testing data for each calendar year. At the start of 2019, the Coast Guard announced that the minimum random drug-testing rate would increase to 50 percent from 25 percent, where it had been for five years. The Coast Guard is required by law to set the rate at 50 percent when the positive rate…
The Virginia Pilot Association, like many of its counterparts around the world, is bound by history and tradition. But its members have embraced new trends and technology with the arrival of each successive launch. The association, based in Virginia Beach, took another big leap with Hampton Roads, a 56-foot pilot boat delivered in late June. The 1,400-hp vessel is longer, heavier and faster than its predecessor, Norfolk, built six years ago. It’s also the first in the six-boat fleet with Volvo Penta IPS propulsion. Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding built the next-generation Chesapeake-class MKII aluminum pilot boat with a C. Raymond Hunt deep-V hull design. Hampton Roads is equipped with a Humphree Interceptor automatic trim stabilization system for better performance. Virginia Pilot Frank Rabena said the launch has earned high praise for its…
River carriers, ports applaud passage of WRDA 2018 The nation’s river carriers and ports expressed their support of the Senate for its passage Oct. 10 of a bill that includes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2018, which authorizes Army Corps of Engineers’ work on locks and dams, dredging and other resources projects. The Senate voted 99 to 1 in favor of S. 3021, America’s Water Infrastructure Act. The bill, passed in September by a voice vote in the House, awaits the president’s signature. The legislation does not authorize enactment of lockage fees and/or tolls on the inland waterways system, a key concern for maritime operators. The Waterways Council Inc. (WCI), which joined the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) in praising the Senate for its passage of the…
Coast Guard addresses gangway safety after fatal accident The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a safety alert urging caution when using pilot ladders and gangways following a collapse in Texas that fatally injured a pilot. “At all times, if there is any question about the safety of a gangway, do not cross it,” the service said in the Aug. 21 alert. “Do not assume that any gangway crossing is ‘routine.’” Capt. Robert L. Adams died after the gangway he was climbing collapsed at 1330 on June 16 in Ingleside, Texas. The Coast Guard and other entities are still investigating the accident. The safety alert acknowledges ships have myriad equipment that can cause serious injury or death, making gangways and pilot ladders appear benign in comparison. However, the Coast Guard warned…
The Crowley Maritime tanker Florida sustained minor hull damage from a “hard landing” in Valdez, Alaska, by one of Edison Chouest Offshore’s new purpose-built tugboats. The 6,000-hp Ingot struck Florida’s stern with its starboard quarter while coming alongside for a docking maneuver at Valdez Marine Terminal, according to Kate Dugan, spokeswoman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. The incident was reported at about 0515 on June 27. The metal-to-metal impact caused an “indentation” on Florida’s portside stern measuring 20 inches long by 6 inches wide by 3 inches deep, she said. There was no pollution and no one on either vessel was injured. Alyeska, which owns the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, is investigating the incident. The U.S. Coast Guard and Crowley also are trying to determine the cause. “There are already…
On an overcast day last November, the bright yellow Crescent Towing tugs Mardi Gras and South Carolina, bows bibbed for Navy work, lent color to the metal gray day. They were escorting USS Arlington, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, up the Mississippi River to the Governor Nicholls Street Wharf in New Orleans. A few years ago, Crescent Towing, a Cooper/T. Smith company, made the decision to build a series of high-horsepower, high-bollard-pull tugs in anticipation of the massive new ships expected at the company’s ports in New Orleans, Mobile, Ala., and Savannah, Ga. The first of the series, the 5,496-hp Mardi Gras, was delivered to the New Orleans fleet in March 2016. The second, Arkansas, joined the Savannah fleet in November 2016, and South Carolina arrived in New Orleans…
