Mississippi River remains closed
The Mississippi River remained closed to commercial vessel traffic on Tuesday as the U.S. Coast Guard assessed transit safety, repaired navigational aids and responded to several vessel incidents.
Two decommissioned supply vessels broke loose from their moorings and were being pushed against the west side of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and a barge sunk in the same area, the sea service said. Attempts to secure the two vessels are ongoing.
In a separate incident in the Industrial Canal, another vessel and two barges broke their moorings and are adrift at the L&N railroad bridge. The barges are against the bridge, which has reportedly sustained damage. One barge is above a natural gas pipeline and will require an assessment and Coast Guard-approved salvage plan before safe removal. The Coast Guard is working with the Army Corps of Engineers, the owners of the vessels and a salvage company to mitigate the situation.
The Coast Guard said it also responded to a tug sinking in the Mississippi River, near Harahan, La.
Another problem involves eight barges that broke away upriver from Kenner, La. Seven of the barges are believed empty.
A ferry also broke free from its moorings, struck another vessel and sank in the Mississippi 20 miles downriver from Baton Rouge.
Coast Guard personnel are working to verify other reports of vessels and barges adrift in the river.
Officials from the Port of New Orleans said their facilities were spared serious damage.
“Our Mississippi River facilities, which constitute more than 80 percent of our cargo operations, received very minimal wind damage,” said Gary P. LaGrange, the port’s president and chief executive officer. “We’ve been in touch with all of our terminal operators and are working with them to restart cargo operations as soon as possible.”
The port said there was minimal damage to its Mississippi River facilities from the Henry Clay Avenue Wharf upriver to the Alabo Street Terminal downriver. Minor damage, such as damaged fencing, transformers, doors and signage, was reported.
Power has also been restored to the Louisiana Avenue Terminal facility and assessments found all loaded containers at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal were in place and undamaged — only a few empty containers were toppled from their stacks in the marshalling yard.
“All of our preparations and plans worked well and we anticipate restarting operations as soon as power is restored and the population is allowed back into the City,” said Jeff Hakala, vice president of New Orleans Terminals, which operates half of the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal.
Some of the port’s cargo facilities on the eastern side of the Industrial Canal (Inner Harbor Navigation Canal), which are outside of the levee system, received flooding. The port said more information on this area of the port, which makes up less than 20 percent of the port’s operations, will be made available after a more thorough assessment.
Assessments of coffee warehouses found none received any flooding and only one received minor roof damage, according to port officials.