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CALL: 1-800-284-7822
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For local contact information, choose a location from the menus below. |
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Sep 3,2008
Update on Gulf Ports
The Journal of Commerce is reporting that as of late yesterday several of the Gulf ports were awaiting channel surveys and checks on navigational aids before reopening and the lower Mississippi River remains closed pending Coast Guard evaluation and clean-up, but overall the region seems to have gotten off pretty lightly with Hurricane Gustav.
There have been several reports of minor pollution and of breakaway barges and vessels on the Mississippi River, including several in the Industrial Canal at the Port of New Orleans, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Brandon Brewer. A small ferry sank downriver from Baton Rouge and a tug sank near Kenner, both with no injuries, he said. The Coast Guard is working with vessel owners and the Army Corps of Engine. There also have been unconfirmed reports of a sunken deck barge with a crane exposed at mile 57 on the Mississippi River, about 40 miles below New Orleans.
Coast Guard teams on the ground and in the air are checking navigational aids and finding and assessing potential hazards. Once this is done, it will be possible to estimate when the lower Mississippi will reopen, Brewer said.
Evaluation is still under way, but the Port of New Orleans itself appears to have suffered minor to no damage in the storm.
At the Texas ports of Freeport, Galveston, Texas City and Houston most restrictions have been lifted and pilots are boarding vessels, according to the West Gulf Maritime Association.
Damage appears to be mild at most on the Sabine-Neches waterway. Channel surveys are under way and, providing no problems are found, the ports were expected to open for westbound tug and barge traffic early Tuesday afternoon, for limited-draft vessel traffic and by midnight for unrestricted traffic.
The Port of Lake Charles, La., continues to be closed to vessel traffic but does not appear to have suffered any damage. The channel was to be surveyed later Tuesday or Wednesday and is expected to reopen Thursday if not sooner. Some landside port activities are under way, and general cargo operations will resume landside on Wednesday when employees return from mandatory evacuation.
Gulfport reported “modest” damage to doors of transit sheds, fencing and power lines, but has electric power. Tug service was expected to resume Tuesday afternoon, and Gulfport pilots are currently assessing navigational aids and channel safety. The Port of Pascagoula, Miss., still closed pending surveys, reported no damage to the port but some problems with navigational aids.
The Port of Mobile, also undamaged, is open for barge and shallow-draft traffic, and the Coast Guard is expected to open it to limited draft operations later Tuesday, according to the Gulf States Maritime Association.
Another factor that will affect when these ports will reopen, especially the port of New Orleans, is when people will be allowed to return to the city. On Wednesday, only first responders and other emergency personnel will be allowed back in. Beginning at midnight on Sept. 4 all other residents will be allowed back in the city. Customs and Border Protection has already indicated that most of their services at the affected ports will not be available at least through Friday. Based on that, it is probably unrealistic to expect port activities to resume before Saturday. More will be known as we get closer to Friday.
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