With developments in the current health crisis almost entirely consuming nearly all news reporting, one could be forgiven for thinking that the members of Congress are thinking about and working on little else, and that even if they were, the divisive partisanship of recent years would doom the prospects of much else getting done. Happily, that is not the case for the nation’s inland waterways.
As the nation continues to be impacted by COVID-19, there are silver linings to the crisis: family time and togetherness, gratitude for what we had before it was taken away, and a chance to seek opportunities to be better and more productive.As funding bills related to the COVID-19 crisis move forward, there may be an opportunity for the nation to better itself by modernizing its infrastructure.
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act was enacted in December 2015. The FAST Act required the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a National Freight Strategic Plan to address multimodal freight transportation. In the Federal Register of December 27, 2019, DOT requested information from the public, including industry trade groups
The Congress worked hard and most importantly together at the end of the recently-concluded First Session in December to finalize and pass Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 appropriations that included the Energy & Water Development (E&WD) Appropriations bill that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) work on the nations’ waterways.
It is often difficult to push through the federal government morass to focus on the issues that actually matter to the inland operator. While 2020 inevitably will be a contentious year in American politics, it is critical to stay focused on the items that will have direct impact on the U.S. maritime industry.
Inland Dredging Company helps keep commerce flowing on America’s inland waterway system.Dyersburg, Tenn. based Inland Dredging Company completed dredging projects spanning eight states and across four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Districts. Beginning in July and finishing in December (2019), Inland Dredging crews dredged ports and harbors along the Mighty Mississippi River, Ouachita River
Houston-based Kirby Corporation said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Savage Inland Marine's towboat and tank barge fleet for approximately $278 million in cash and the assumption of leases.Kirby will acquire Savage's inland fleet consisting of 46 towboats and 90 tank barges with approximately 2.
The U.S. Coast Guard's sole heavy icebreaker arrived January 22 at McMurdo Station, following a 58-day transit from the United States. Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) departed its’ homeport of Seattle on November 26.This year marks the Polar Star’s 23rd journey to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations
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
The most complex cruise ship lengthening ever undertaken is clipping along at Fincantieri’s Palermo yard.The final welding cut to Windstar Cruises’ Star Breeze was completed and the ship’s 25.6-meter/84-foot prefabricated midsection was glided into place between the two halves in the drydock, an operation that took just half an hour.
Kirby Corporation (“Kirby”) (NYSE: KEX) has announced net earnings attributable to Kirby for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019 of $47.3 million, or $0.79 per share, compared with earnings of $28.6 million, or $0.48 per share, for the 2018 second quarter. Excluding a one-time charge related to the retirement of Kirby’s Executive Chairman
Genscape Maritime’s Vessel Coverage of U.S. Inland Waterways offers new perspectives and a leg up on the competition. In today’s transportation markets, information is everything.It was back in 2016 that Genscape announced the complete integration of more than 400 terrestrial AIS antennas in North America, providing an impressive level of data accuracy and visibility into ship movements in the U.