In January 2023, U.S. federal agents raided the home of a Tucson maintenance worker who had a side hustle hauling packages across the border to Mexico.They estimate that over the previous two years, the gray-bearded courier had ferried about 7,000 kilos of fentanyl-making chemicals to an operative of the Sinaloa Cartel. That’s 15,432 pounds, sufficient to produce 5.
Low water conditions have led to several barges running aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard told Reuters on Wednesday, just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.Low water levels are slowing export-bound barge shipments of grain and oilseeds from the Midwest farm belt for a third straight year, making U.S.
Laborde Marine, a New Orleans-based offshore support vessels (OSV) operator, announced it is entering the U.S. inland marine market with the creation of a new division to provide towing and pushboat services.LabMar Inland will initially charter Ivy Steiner, a 2,000-horsepower pushboat newly built by Steiner Construction in Bayou La Batre, Ala.
Bourbon Mobility on Tuesday announced it has ordered six new crewboats from shipbuilder PIRIOU for scheduled delivery in 2025.These new Surfer-type vessels will enhance the fleet operating in West Africa, offering customers a balance between modularity, comfort and energy efficiency, Bourbon said, noting the newbuilds aim to reduce fuel consumption by 20%.
The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) said 2023 was a record year for container-on-barge shipping.During the last calendar year, Port NOLA marked 20,500 container moves by barge, the highest since launching the container-on-barge network—the nation's largest—in 2016 with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and Ingram Marine Group.
Singaporean aluminum boat builder Strategic Marine recently delivered TMS Ranod, the first of two Gen 4 Fast Crew Boats to growing Thai offshore services provider Truth Maritime Services (TMS). The pair of newbuild contracts were signed in 2023.Strategic Marine launched the 42m Gen 4 FCB design in collaboration with Southerly Designs
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation on Thursday announced the receipt of five dredging contracts totaling $173.7 million. The projects are in Texas, New Jersey, Florida and Louisiana.The Sabine-Neches Waterway Channel Improvement Project-Phase 1 (Capital, Texas, $62.8 million) includes dredging for channel deepening along the Sabine-Neches Waterway from Sabine Bank Channel to Sabine Pass
Singaporean shipbuilder Penguin International Limited last week held a ceremony marking the delivery of a milestone vessel.The 40-meter aluminum crewboat, Pelican Breeze, is noteworthy for being Penguin's 100th newbuild vessel powered by Cat C32 ACERT main propulsion engines and Cat C4.4 auxiliary generators.