In late Spring at about 0300 local time, an aging towboat (#1) was pushing two loaded barges upbound on a swollen and fast-moving northwestern U.S. river. It was a moonless night and, while certainly not unusual conditions for the veteran captain and his longtime deckhand, it didn’t diminish the added challenges of the short but tricky nocturnal run.
The world has radically changed since towboat captain Terry Hall boarded his vessel late last month in Wood River, Illinois, for his four-week shift hauling bargeloads of crude oil, chemicals, scrap metal and other goods up and down the Mississippi River.His employer, Canal Barge Co
There’s a barge full of reasons why many operators turn to ATBs.A mainstay of the U.S. coastwise dirty and refined products trades, articulated tug barges (ATB) have increasingly filled a void left as the fleet of Jones Act tankers (with crew complement requirements exceeding that of tugs) has aged out.
Nearly 200 towing vessels and 600 barges are queued on the Intracoastal Waterway while salvors work to clear a halved and partially sunken rock barge near Berwick, La., the U.S. Coast Guard said.A section of waterway has been closed since Sunday night, when a towing vessel pushing six rock-filled hopper barges ran aground at mile marker 99.
The search for three missing mariners was called off on Monday after two towing vessels collided on the Mississippi River at mile marker 123, near Luling, La., Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Search crews scoured more than 835 nautical miles for approximately 67 hours but were unable to find the three missing mariners, the Coast Guard said.
Norwegian technology firm Kongsberg announced it will install and test autonomous ship technologies on two vessels in Europe's inland waterways and short sea coastal shipping routes.The AUTOSHIP project will aim to test and further develop key technology linked to fully autonomous navigation systems, intelligent machinery systems, self-diagnostics, prognostics and operation scheduling
Vard Marine, a naval architecture and marine engineering company, recently completed the concept design of a new 5,400 cubic meter (CBM) LNG bunker barge for Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.The barge is being designed for Polaris New Energy’s bunkering operations that will support LNG fueled ships in the east coast of the United States.
America’s first offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) barge has been launched for owner Q-LNG Transport, Mississippi shipbuilder VT Halter Marine announced on Wednesday.The Q-LNG 4000 barge, designed to carry 4,000 cubic meters of LNG, with dimensions of 324’ x 64’ x 32’.6”, will be operated as part of an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit designed to meet the requirements of American Bureau of
Crowley Fuels has signed construction contracts to build a 55,000-barrel, articulated tug-barge (ATB) that is specifically designed to serve the Western Alaska market with delivery of clean fuel products.The 410-foot ATB will have enhanced performance features for the demanding river and sea conditions of Western Alaska
A fuel barge has become stuck in mud on the Naknek River in Naknek, Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday. The Coast Guard said it is responding to the Crowley BC-152 barge, which settled in the mud and began to show signs of structural stress while offloading petroleum product.
The U.S. towing and tug business is 5,500 boats, more than 31,000 barges with an estimated total impact on U.S. GDP of $33.8 billion.“At a macro level, the bigger ships are causing downward pressure on the ship assist business because there are fewer ship calls given the increased capacity of these vessels.
Another year; another major fleet takeover by Kirby Corporation. But the leader of the inland tank-barge sector is not growing for growth’s sake: a deeper look at the numbers shows a disciplined strategy at work.“Kirby is definitely the big gorilla in the inland barge market,” affirmed Jefferies analyst Randy Giveans.