Inland Port Magazine - Jan Feb

Protecting the Jones Act

Inland PortJanuary/February 2011

WCI Honors Congressman Hal Rogers

New Leaders for the Soy Transportation Coalition

Educating the Inland Waterway Workforce

www.irpt.net

INLAND PORT MAGAZINEJanuary/February 2011

Volume III, Number IISSN 2156-7611

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What is PIANC?By James R. McCarville, Executive Director, Port of Pittsburgh Commission

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Inland PortJanuary/February 2011 • Volume III, Issue I

THE LAST WORDInterview with Larry MerrihewPresident, Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association

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16

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RIsk and RewaRdRisk Management & Loss: When Prevention Takes Added MeaningBy C. Daniel Negron, of Thomas Miller (americas)

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Industry Notebook26

MeMo To The IndusTRyProtect the Jones Act!By Jack Martone, of aeu Consulting

6Educating the Inland Waterway WorkforceBy Andrew P. Gates, Marine Technology Program Coordinator, western kentucky Community & Technical College

8New Officers for Soy Transportation CoalitionAn interview with STC’s Mike Steenhoek and Ed Ulch10

Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers Honored by Waterways Council16

Konecranes Introduces New Boxrunner Straddle Carrier20Clean Green Machine Sets the Pace at Armstrong Coal Barge Facility18

Inland Ports & Waterways Must Effectively Manage RisksBy Irvin Varkonyi, american Public university22NWC Emphasizes Water Resource RecommendationsBy Amy Larson, national waterways Conference24

PIanC is a worldwide network of navigation professionals. It solves technical issues and provides global

guidance for economic, sound and sustain-able solutions for issues of waterborne transportation infrastructure. established in 1885, almost in another age, it contin-ues to be the leading partner for govern-ment and private designers, developers and users of ports, waterways and coastal areas.

as an interested professional, you can learn from its technical reports, but, moreover, you are invited to participate in cutting edge idea-leadership as a Technical working Group (wG) member, or to serve on a Commission or national section, such as PIanC-usa. Participants share their knowledge while learning from their peers around the world-- and what an interest-ing world it is to learn from.

PIanC-International connects the waterborne transport community through Congresses, General assemblies, Commis-sions and working Groups. The Congress meets every four years and has a Call for Papers on matters of interest to all nations.

The last Congress was in the British city of Liverpool, almost as famous for its port as its music. while in Liverpool we discussed, among many other topics, how to promote good waterborne transporta-tion infrastructure decisions in face of austerity programs and the shortsighted attempts to cut corners. we also toured the Pontcysyllte aqueduct navigation canal, 126 feet above the River dee, in wales.

The annual General assembly, PIanC’s governing body, carries out the

organization’s business. It also focuses on the developments of the host country.

In China PIanC toured the incredible engineering accomplishment of the Three Gorges Locks and dams and observed how inland navigation on the yangtze River is transforming that part of the world.

In Finland we learned about historic wooden locks and toured a newer system, built during the Cold war, where the traf-fic has to navigate through Russia before it reaches the ocean.

This isn’t just about engineering. It is engineering, finance, economics, sociol-ogy, history, politics and diplomacy all wrapped together.

CORE BELIEFSunderscoring the work of PIanC are

two core beliefs. The first is that by bring-ing together the best engineering and scientific thinking in the world, the results will be better for everyone.

The other is that our common heritage and, in fact, our common prosperity are dependent upon promoting and main-taining the powerful economic engine of environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation.

PIanC has adopted a “working with nature” (wwn) framework. wwn optimizes project objectives in win-win ecosystem contexts rather than simply assessing the consequences of pre-deter-mined designs or focusing only on trying to minimize ecological harm.

The majority of the technical work of PIanC is done through the formal Com-missions and their Technical working

PIANC, the acronym, is a

funny name for an important

navigation community – and

not nearly enough people

know about it. I’ll explain the

name later, but first, why is

it so important?

January/February 20114 www.inlandportmagazine.com

What is PIANC? By James R. McCarvilleExecutive Director, Port of Pittsburgh Commission

Groups. There are Commissions for Inland navigation, Maritime, environment, Recreation, Financing, young Profession-als and Cooperative development. They go by the names of InCom, MarCom, enviCom, RecCom, FinCom, yPCom and CoCom. additionally it organizes PIanC-CoPedeC, the International Conference on coastal and Port engineering in developing Countries. Beginning in 2013, PIanC will take the smartRiv-ers conferences global, includ-ing the river systems in Asia, Latin america and africa.

WORKING GROUPSThe Commissions oversee

the organization of the vari-ous working Groups (wGs). wGs bring together volunteer experts from many countries to solve difficult scientific and engineering problems through benchmarking and comparing best practices, while learning from each other. PIanC publishes the wG results widely as respected and high quality, state-of-the-practice technical reports.

For the inland community, in recent years, PIanC has produced reports on the organization and management of inland river ports; innovations in lock design; remote control of locks; values of inland waterways; and performance indicators for inland waterway transport.

One of its more interesting reports was the one on “River Information services”, a frequent theme in the smartRivers confer-ences, an area where the us is learning a lot from our european counterparts.

PIanC has also produced coastal and maritime reports on earthquake impacts; siltation; marina design; operations safety; environmental risk assessment; water in-jection dredging, and many other subjects, all related to waterborne transportation infrastructure.

In addition, PIanC serves as a formal technical advisor on several international organizations such as The International Maritime organization (IMo) and eu-ropean Commission (eC) on waterborne transport and maritime issues.

AN INTERNATIONAL PRESENCEPIanC-International is headquar-

tered in Brussels, Belgium. For informa-tion, contact Louis Van schell, General

secretary, or sabine Van de Velde, staff Member, at www.pianc.org. If you want to participate in an upcoming working Group, or just get on the PIanC mail list, contact any PIanC-usa Commissioner or kelly Barnes, PIanC-usa staff at www.pianc.us.

PIanC-usa, a national section of PIanC, was organized in 1902. Member-ship is comprised of engineers, scientists, economists, planners, dredgers, port op-erators, regulators, and marina and vessel owners.

PIanC-usa hosts an annual Meeting in the us to update interested parties on the progress of the working Groups as well as selected topics of general interest to the navigation community. They also hosted, along with european partners, “smartRiv-ers 2007” in Louisville, ky, and will host “smartRivers 2011” in new orleans, La, on september 13-16, 2011.

Following 2011, PIanC-International will take the conference global. In recogni-tion of its innovative work, PIanC-usa was named the “outstanding national section” in 2009.

GETTING THINGS DONEwhile reports are important, imple-

mentation is more important, especially for complex policy issues. here too, PIanC –usa has been specifically active.

Recently, PIanC-usa Commissioner helen Brohl invited Bruce Lambert and me to brief the us Committee on Marine Transportation (CMTs) on the working Group 32 “Performance Indicators for In-land waterway Transport”. while admit-tedly only a starting point, the CMTs was looking for just such a starting point to evaluate the efficacy of the us system. Go-

ing a step further, a CMTS member, LCDR Charles Bright, usCG, is incorporating the report into a George Mason univer-sity classroom project. They expect to use the Port of Pittsburgh as a test case to establish the practicality of the indicators, recommend improvements based on real

world experience and provide feedback to PIanC. This is an example of the interactive networking of PIanC.

while one can participate in PIanC without being a member, membership is always encouraged. The us section is especially inter-ested in attracting students, young professionals and those with foreign language abilities, but these are not requirements to participate. In fact, all of the work is done in english and the individual dues are very reasonable.

Companies may take out corporate mem-berships for all of their employees. some companies are Platinum sponsors because of the value they recognize.

SO WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR?oh, yes. The name. The PIanC initials

stand for the “Permanent International association of navigation Congresses.” It comes from the origin of the organization in the nineteenth century, when such Con-gresses were common. while the modern name is the world association for water-borne Transportation Infrastructure, the acronym PIanC was retained. some of us just like the nostalgia of the old name. IP

THE AUTHORJim McCarville is the Executive

Director of the Port of Pittsburgh, and an early and key supporter of Inland Port Magazine. He was featured in our January-February 2010 issue. Jim is a candidate for President of PIANC-International in the first-ever election of the 126 year old organization. Email him at [email protected].

5January/February 2011 www.inlandportmagazine.com

During the PIANC MMX Congress and Annual General Assembly in Liverpool 2010, Jim McCarville, Port of Pittsburgh Commission and PIANC USA Commis-sioner, formally announced that the US will host the next Congress in 2014 in San Francisco, CA.Credit: Mills Media


Throughout the past year, the Jones Act was the focus of off-base criticism for hindering the Gulf cleanup effort, as well as more generalized criti-

cism based on long-standing economic arguments. It in turn was being ably defended by industry trade groups and by individual us shippers and shipbuilders.

Rather than contribute to the ongoing arguments, I would rather direct the attention of members of the maritime community, including coastal, offshore, and most emphatically, inland shipping interests, ship builders and ship repairers, and crewmembers work-ing on Jones act vessels, to examples of legislative and regulatory activity that I believe they should be aware of and interested in.

BACKGROUNDThe Jones act is, among other things, a cabotage law

that provides that, “a vessel may not provide any part of the transportation of merchandise by water, or by land and water, between points in the us to which the coast-wise laws apply, either directly or via a foreign port…” generally unless the vessel is built in the us, crewed by americans, and owned by americans (46 usC. 55102).

The Jones act protects us vessel owners, us ship-yards, and the jobs of us seamen against competition with often subsidized, under regulated foreign vessel interests that are non-compliant with us labor, safety, security, tax, and environmental laws.

Most importantly, the Jones act, enacted in 1920 (and continuing a us cabotage tradition going back to the first Congress) represents an important element of national security as clearly stated in its Preamble:

“It is necessary for the national defense and for the proper growth of its foreign and domestic commerce that the US shall have a merchant marine of the best equipped and most suitable types of vessels sufficient to carry the greater portion of its commerce and serve as a naval or military auxiliary in time of war or na-tional emergency…”

The Jones Act has its opponents and it has its propo-nents. The Deepwater Horizon event touched off a full blown attack, defense, and government reaction.

CURRENT EVENTSThere is much going on that should be of concern to

every segment of the us maritime community. here are some examples.

An interesting year, 2010.

First there was the March announcement of the Obama administration’s intent to expand offshore oil and gas production.

Then there was the April 20th Deepwater Horizon explosion and the largest oil spill in American history, followed by the May imposition of a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, and finally the October 12 lifting of the moratorium.

These events were accompanied by an explosion in Congress of proposed legislation and new rules and regulations in the regulatory and enforcement agencies.

Jack Martone outlines how all this can affect the inland and coastal industry segments alike.

Protect the Jones Act!Memo to the Industry:


1. There is a large volume of pend-ing legislation largely in reaction to the deepwater horizon event. There are provi-sions in various bills to repeal the Jones act, to repeal the Limitation of Liability Act, to amend the Jones Act, Limitation of Liability act, and death on the high seas act to increase vessel owner liabilities, to establish new offices in the departments of the Interior and energy with sweep-ing regulatory reform agendas, etc., etc. a PaRTIaL list of the bills: s. 3516, h.R. 3534, h.R. 5629, s. 3755, h.R. 5503, s. 3600, s. 3509, s. 3643, s. 3663, h.R. 5019, s. 2747, s. 3466, s. 3472, s. 3495, s. 3509, s. 3511, s. 3512, s. 3515, s. 3516, s. 3525, s. 3597, s. 3643. even with a divided Con-gress returning in January, where most of these provisions will not be enacted in their current form, this list is a good indi-cator of the legislative mood.

2. The Maritime Administration (MaRad) in the department of Trans-portation has contracted with Pricewa-terhouseCoopers to perform a study to provide findings on the cost differential between operating us and foreign flag vessels. The conventional rule of thumb, based on virtually no data, has been $3 to $1 more costly to use us-flagged ships. The study should be complete by the sum-mer of 2011 and should better inform the Jones act discussion.

3. The us Coast Guard in the depart-ment of homeland security is in the pro-cess of developing a rule requiring foreign flagged vessels to report their arrival on the us outer continental shelf (oCs). In 2006, section 109 of the saFe Port act required the Coast Guard to update and finalize a rulemaking within 180 days to expand the notice of arrival regulations. on June 22, 2009, the Coast Guard issued a notice of Proposed Rulemaking and the comment period ended September 21, 2009. no final rule has been issued and it is obviously overdue. during Congressio-nal hearings in June 2010 at the subcom-mittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation (house Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure) it was made clear that the us currently has no comprehensive or centralized data set on the scope of foreign vessel activity on the oCs. except for mobile offshore drilling units and other vessels requir-ing annual Coast Guard inspections, the Coast Guard does not know who’s operating on the oCs. This clearly has

economic and security implications. 4. The Internal Revenue service has

begun to focus on foreign vessels working in the oil and gas industry to assess wheth-er there are instances of non-compliance with us tax filing requirements. The IRs Industry director’s directive #1 (10/09) stated (regarding activity on the us oCs), “our analysis indicates that a significant number of foreign vessels permitted to work in the oCs do not comply with us tax filing requirements.”

5. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the department of homeland

security issued (in July 2009) a “Proposed Modification and Revocation of Ruling Letters Relating to the Customs Position on the application of the Jones act to the Transportation of Certain Merchan-dise and equipment Between Coastwise Points.” CBP had reviewed existing interpretive rulings on the issues of what constitutes merchandise as distinct from equipment of the vessel and realized that there was a record of conflicting (and incorrect) interpretations. In a move sup-ported by Jones Act proponents, CBP was planning to modify its previous positions in several areas. CBP has now decided not to issue any new Rulemaking in this area. we are back to splitting hairs on the issue of “merchandise” as opposed to “equip-ment of the vessel”, and we are stuck with the existing record of admittedly incorrect rulings.

6. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and enforce-ment (BoeMRe) in the department of the Interior, the relatively new federal agency that manages us natural gas, oil, and other mineral resources on the oCs, has issued and is in the process of developing new environmental and safety regulations applicable to oil and gas drilling on the oCs. These regulations can be expected to

place greater burdens and costs on owners and operators on the oCs.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON WASHINGTONI could go on like this for quite a while,

but the point of this brief sample of cur-rent legislative and regulatory activities is that members of the maritime community should be interested observers of what is happening in washington.

There are interest groups representing the industry that are tracking and par-ticipating in these issues that need your support. also, you do have access to your elected representatives in our system, and agencies such as CBP, BOEMRE, the Coast Guard, MaRad, and the IRs have web-sites where their actions can be followed.

so here’s a new year’s Resolution for you: Become better informed with regard to the Jones act. IP

THE AUTHORJohn A. (Jack) Martone, former

Branch Chief of Financial Management, Insurance and Assessment at the United States Department of Labor, joined AEU in 2006 as Senior Vice President. During Jack’s 27 years with the Department of Labor, he direct-ed the licensing and regulation of insurance carriers and self insured employ-ers under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act. He also administered the Special Fund created by section 44 of the Longshore Act and billed and collected the annual industry assess-ment. Jack also serves on the Board of American Longshore Mutual Association.

Jack manages AEU Consulting and is available to assist with Longshore ques-tions. He can answer questions about claims, regulations, self insurance, juris-dictional conflicts or any other issue relat-ing to the Longshore Act. He is frequently called upon to speak at industry func-tions, such as the International WorkBoat Show, the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) and Inland River Ports & Terminals (IRPT). Jack is also the moderator of the AEU Longshore Blog on amequity.com. Email: [email protected].

The conventional rule of thumb, based on virtually no data, has been $3 to $1 more costly to use US-flagged ships. The study should be complete by the summer of 2011 and should better inform the Jones Act discussion.


West kentucky Community and Technical College (wkCTC) launched its new associate in

applied science degree program in Marine Technology on January 10, 2011. This program is designed to educate personnel working on america’s inland waterways.

Mariners are facing industry changes with increasing knowledge and skill required to operate a towing vessel, as well as changes in inspection regulations and operating procedures. These changes are going to require that vessel employees have a sharper sense of using computers, communicating with their employers and officials ashore, and treating their vessel like an independent multimillion dollar business.

The Marine Technology degree program at wkCTC is the first two year associates degree program of its kind in the country. The degree program was developed with the aid of “brown water” personnel to assure that each course fits the needs of today’s towing industry.

wkCTC’s associate in applied science in Marine Technology is the first to focus on the actual business components of the inland waterways industry. associate degree programs from other institutions have focused on licensure related learn-ing. This program will not be teaching the art of steering the vessel since training in those skills is provided by the seamen’s Church Institute Center for Maritime education in Paducah, ky for the nation’s marine companies. In a cooperative effort the two education facilities will comple-ment each other to support mariners advance through their career path.

The curriculum for the marine technology program at wkCTC is taught primarily online with flexible lab compo-nents in the engineering specialization to accommodate the changing schedules of inland mariners. The curriculum will be composed of 60-64 credits depending on the course of study the student selects. The college will offer a two-year associate in applied science degree with three options:

wheelhouse Management, Marine engi-neering, and Marine Logistics operations.

wkCTC’s marine technology program requires that individuals already have 60 days of waterways experience before enrolling in the program. In addition, the College offers a marine technology business certificate and a marine industry certificate for individuals who might have entered the industry with another special-ization but have an interest in advancing their knowledge of the inland waterways. Mariners who hold a united states Coast Guard license will be given credit for some of the introductory courses that their ex-periences may have already taught them. A cooperative experience for on the job training requirements will also be a part of the associate degree program.

The wheelhouse Management op-tion will be geared toward deck officers ranging from deckhands who are trying to advance in their career paths to Captains who desire to gain more knowledge of their trade. This option focuses heavily

Educating the Inland Waterway Workforce

By Andrew P. GatesMarine Technology Program CoordinatorWest Kentucky Community & Technical College


on business and human resource courses to compliment the marine courses and produce a business conscious mariner. Companies have expressed that those who complete this option during their career may have a leg up on their competition to enter wheelhouse training programs. Mariner holding a usCG Captains license that have an interest of changing to a shore side position might also be better prepared to do so upon completion of this degree.

There were previously no training facilities in the region focusing on marine engineering. wkCTC will open a train-ing center of excellence that will focus on the training of marine diesel, electrical, hydraulic/pneumatic and many other engineering components. This facility will to available to provide training to compa-nies and will also allow wkCTC to offer the flexible lab components involved in the engineering option of the degree program.

as the degree program was developed, a need was identified to educate person-nel who work in a shore side position and want to enhance their knowledge of the operations on the inland waterways. The

Marine Logistics operations specializa-tion is designed to explore the shore side business aspects of the marine industry in relation to moving goods throughout america’s inland waterways. students will gain knowledge of intermodal transporta-tion operations, dispatching, warehousing, purchasing, and an insight into all the major tributaries of the river system.

Program development has been sup-ported by many of the industry’s leading companies. several companies have set reimbursement plans in place for their em-ployees interested in entering the degree program. The program is coordinated by andrew Gates who is a native to Paducah, ky. he is a graduate of the united states Merchant Marine academy and sailed in a blue water capacity aboard a chemical tanker for over three years before joining the College. as a native of the area he has an understanding of the inland industry, but also has the knowledge of the industry changes that are ahead because of his blue water experience.

In addition to the aas program, wkCTC also works with individual com-

panies to provide customized training for current employees. Training is available for riverboat cooks, engineers, wheelhouse personnel, and company management. IP

THE AUTHORAdditional information regarding the

Marine Technology degree program or customized training can be obtained by calling Andrew Gates at 270-534-3285 or emailing [email protected].

http://marinesonic.us/

The soy Transportation Coalition (sTC) recently introduced its newly elected group of officers at its an-

nual meeting.ed ulch of solon, Iowa, was elected

Chairman. ulch is currently Vice Chair of the national Biodiesel Board and serves on the Iowa soybean association Board of directors. he has held offices with the agribusiness association of Iowa. ed and his wife, Louella, have three children and eight grandchildren.

“I look forward to serving as Chair-man of the soy Transportation Coalition,” ulch explains. “The current and future profitability of farming depends on having a cost-effective, reliable and competitive transportation infrastructure. The soy Transportation Coalition will be active in both exploring and implementing solu-tions to improve the logistics system that serves u.s. agriculture.”

Patrick knouff of Minster, ohio, was elected Vice Chairman. knouff raises corn and soybeans, as well as a herd of heifers on his farm in shelby County with his wife Jennifer and their three children. knouff is a board member of the Ohio Soybean Council and active in the ohio Farm Bu-reau Federation. knouff hopes to empha-size the importance of transportation to the soybean industry.

“It is not enough for farmers to in-crease production, and it is not enough to increase demand for soybeans among our domestic and international customers,” knouff says. “we need to have a quality transportation system that connects the two. as Vice Chairman of the soy Trans-portation Coalition, I hope to be involved in promoting the necessary investments in roads, bridges, railroads, interior waterways and ports that will enable the soybean industry to remain competitive in the years to come.”

Jerry wyse of haven, kansas, was elected secretary-Treasurer. wyse has been a member of the kansas soybean Commission Board since 1996 and re-cently was chairman for the north Central soybean Research Program. For the past

25 years, Wyse has owned and managed kauffman seeds, Inc. in haven, kansas. Jerry and his wife, Lois, have two daugh-ters and five grandchildren.

“as agriculture becomes more of a global industry, our logistics chain be-comes more and more critical,” wyse says. “I look forward to working with the soy Transportation Coalition to make sure our transportation system is keeping pace with an expanding agriculture industry.”

STC Executive Director Mike Steenhoek and new Chairman Ed Ulch were kind enough to answer some of our questions concerning where their organization is headed. For more, visit soytransportation.org.

Can you give the folks a brief overview of your group and how it came to be?Steenhoek: established in 2007, the soy Transportation Coalition (sTC) is comprised of ten state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association, and the united soybean Board. The sTC is a farmer-funded and farmer led organiza-tion. The goal of the soy Transportation Coalition is to position the soybean indus-try to benefit from a transportation system that delivers cost effective, reliable, and competitive service.

In what areas has STC had its greatest impact, whether legislative or otherwise?Ulch: Educating farmers about the impor-tance of transportation to their profitabil-ity and, as a result, getting farmers to be more engaged in transportation issues has been a significant accomplishment of the soy Transportation Coalition. Steenhoek: Farmers are an important constituency in this country. when they become involved in an issue, the issue grows in importance among our nation’s leaders.

What specific goals does STC have going forward with this new leadership group?Steenhoek: Since the journey from farm to ultimate customer involves all modes of transportation: highway, railroad, and maritime, the soy Transportation Coali-tion needs to continue to address those shortcomings in each mode. Ulch: In 2011, the sTC will be active in issues related to funding for our nation’s surface transportation system, rail invest-ment and competitive service, investment in our interior waterways and ports, and calling attention to the impact of the Pana-ma Canal expansion on us agriculture.


An interview with STC’s Mike Steenhoek & Ed Ulch

New Officers for Soy Transportation Coalition

Ed Ulch

Mike Steenhoek

www.sennebogen-na.com

What are your thoughts on the recent America’s Marine Highways initiatives? Ulch: we applaud the increased emphasis by the us department of Transportation on the role our interior waterways can play in delivering what american’s pro-duce, manufacture, and consume. There is a growing recognition that maritime transportation is safe, fuel efficient, and environmentally friendly. Steenhoek: Other countries around the world are envious of our navigable waterways that reach far into the heart of America’s production and manufacturing regions. It is refreshing to see our nation’s

leaders acknowledge these incredible arteries and promote them as the engines of economic growth that they are.

What would you like to see the Obama administration and lawmakers do?Steenhoek: we would like to see our nation’s leaders develop more of an invest-ment mentality rather than a spending mentality. when investing, one incurs an immediate cost in exchange for a future benefit that exceeds the current cost. Ulch: unfortunately in this country, we have a spending mentality in which we acquire a current benefit in exchange

for a current cost or even a future cost if utilizing debt. The President has a laudable goal of doubling exports over the next five years. we support that goal. agriculture can lead the way to achieving it. how-ever, to accomplish that requires making specific decisions that result in tangible outcomes. These decisions must involve investing in our transportation infrastruc-ture. otherwise, this export goal will never be accomplished.

It always comes down to money. As you see it, is the problem that the money is just not there? Or that it is there, but is just not going to our industry segments like it should be?Ulch: The current climate of budget defi-cits and an increasing national debt does not provide fertile ground for major trans-portation projects. however, our inability to invest in our transportation system is just as much the result of a scarcity of vi-sion, as a scarcity of funding. Steenhoek: we need to realize that certain investments will have a more positive effect on our national economy than others. It’s important for the u.s. to produce quality products, and it’s impor-tant to have customers for those products. however, if we aren’t able to connect the two with a quality transportation system, all of the hard work that occurs in agricul-ture, manufacturing, and other segments will not come to fruition.

In the case of a funding shortfall, what list of items would you like to see handled first with the funding that is available?Steenhoek: Making sure our lock and dam inventory is properly maintained so that further catastrophic failures - like those that recently occurred at Markland and Greenup locks on the ohio River - do not occur elsewhere. If one of the locks along the Mississippi River suffered a cata-strophic failure during harvest season, it would have a devastating impact on rural america. since our logistics system could not absorb as much agricultural freight, the prices farmers receive for their com-modities would decline. Ulch: agriculture is one of the few bright spots in our overall economy. If we don’t adequately maintain our nation’s locks and dams, we will hamstring agriculture’s abil-ity to remain profitable. IP


www.americanwaterways.com


Port of New Orleans President and CEO Gary LaGrange announced container volumes at the

Port rose 31 percent in 2010, compared to 2009. In 2010, the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal handled 426,091 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), compared to 325,857 the previous year.

“These gains are attributed to a strong export market and the result of non-traditional cargoes, such as steel products and grain, now moving by container,” LaGrange said. “Our terminal operators – Ports America and New Orleans Terminal – are to be commended on the service they provide, as well as our container carri-ers that serve the Port.”

The Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal is served by Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, Seaboard Marine and CSAV.

In other Board news, two contracts were awarded for the renovation of the Julia Street Cruise Termi-nal. The Board awarded an $8.97 million contract to Metairie, La.-based Ryan Gootee General Contractors LLC, for the renovation and expansion of the terminal. A $3.98 million contract was also awarded to Jackson, Miss.-based Silverton Construction Company for modifi-cations to the Julia Street Wharf and substructure.

The estimated $13.7 million project will renovate two smaller terminals at Julia Street into one large modern terminal. The project includes the installation of a new climate-controlled articulated gangway, currently under construction in Sweden. The terminal will be home to Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas, which will home-port in New Orleans. The 1,020-foot cruise ship carries 3,838 passengers and is the largest cruise ship ever to call on the Port of New Orleans.

The project is expected to be completed in October of this year.

Cruise Ships Call On Port of NOThe Port of New Orleans recently welcomed

three unique port calls by United Kingdom-based P&O Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.

P&O’s newest and largest cruise ship, the 951-foot and 3,100-passenger Azura, docked at the Port’s Erato Street Cruise Terminal. The passengers enjoyed their time touring south Louisiana and sampling the unique cuisine and nightlife.

Then, on Dec. 30th, P&O’s Ventura arrived at Erato. The 947-foot vessel conducted a turnaround in New Orleans, allowing about 1,000 of its passengers to disembark and another group of 1,000 to board.

On Jan. 26, P&O’s 853-foot Oriana also called on the Port, with 1,900 passengers enjoying a two-day visit to the Crescent City.

Passengers on each ship are expected to spend about $150,000 on shore tours, dining and entertain-ment while in port. The total economic impact, including vessel supplies and support and crew spending is about $2.5 million over a six-day period.

“Cruising is an important part of Louisiana’s tourism economy,” said Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne. “In addition to the economic impact of passengers, it gives visitors a taste of our great state which all but guarantees another trip to Louisiana in their future.” IP

LaGrange Touts Container Gains atPort of New Orleans

Container volume is up at the Port of New Orleans.

www.3riversmarineandrail.com


RISK AND REWARD

By C. Daniel NegronVice President, Thomas Miller (Americas) Inc.

Port operators face sig-nificant liability risk unless they are properly

advised by specialist insur-ers and are in possession of a bespoke port and terminals policy. Because of this, the concepts of risk management and loss prevention are taking on an increasing significance in the establishment of an effective insurance management program. For the owner or operator of a port instal-lation, this means having greater control over the efficiency of his operation and having to maintain a greater awareness of the impact that his relationships with oth-ers will have on his insurance coverage.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS REqUIRE SPECIALIST COVERAGE

a typical port authority can be one of three types: firstly a pure landlord, or a provider of equipment or premises, which does not perform any services. Its facilities might include marine terminals, passenger terminals, offices, piers and wharves, gantry cranes, container han-dlers and other heavy equipment.

secondly, an intermediate landlord, which provides both equipment or prem-ises and some essential services – such as security, the publication of information about water depths etc, provision of pilot-age and so on.

The third type is an operational port, which provides some or all of the neces-sary port services: warehousing; marine terminal operations; container repairs; stevedoring and so on.

The greater the number of services offered by a port, the greater the opera-tor’s exposure to risk. operators may be liable for a multitude of claims, including: loss of or damage to cargo; delay in deliv-ery of cargo or delivery to an inappropri-ate destination or improper person; inju-

ries to third parties or loss of or damage to the property of third parties; liabilities aris-ing out of pollution; and costs for clean up operations as a result of accidents, among others.

In the event of any insur-ance claim being made, the complexity of multiple rela-tionships with suppliers and

clients could serve to “muddy the water.”

LIABILITIES AND LOSSa liability insurance policy contains

two fundamental obligations. The primary obligation of the insurer is to indemnify the operator for liabilities he incurs aris-ing out of a covered loss. simply, if an operator causes a loss for which the policy provides protection, the policy will indem-nify the loss.

The second obligation of the policy is to defend the insured against claims aris-ing out of a covered loss for which he is not responsible. This is typically found in the costs provision of the policy, which includes the costs of investigating, defend-ing and mitigating, or reducing the poten-tial exposure on a claim. In these cases, the policy is designed to defend the opera-tor against the claim, and to seek recourse against the responsible party.

In no event, will a liability policy indemnify an operator for claims resulting from the improper actions of unrelated third parties, unless that cover is specifi-cally endorsed onto the policy.

The contractual undertakings that ports and terminal operators effect with their premises providers, equipment providers and subcontractors will have a direct impact on the quantum of insur-ance they will be required to maintain. an operator must be mindful of the impact that such arrangements will have on his insurance cover, or he might risk not hav-

ing any insurance at all.a well-structured liability policy, if

written with the specific exposures fac-ing ports and terminal operators in mind, will protect against the direct losses aris-ing from the ownership or use of the port facilities as well as the contractual under-takings of the operators themselves. The policy must also be supported by knowl-edgeable underwriters who are capable of providing local service wherever in the world the operation is located.

SPECIALISTS AT HANDReflecting the complexities faced by

port operators and those that insure them, some specialized insurers manuscript their own forms to suit the specialized risks which they insure. TT Club Mutual Insurance Limited, for instance has cre-ated policy forms especially suited to the transportation industry. Its Insurance for Cargo handling Facilities provides a com-prehensive cover specifically designed to cover the various services provided by the operators of installations dedicated to the handling and movement of cargoes and passengers.

another cover issued by the TT Club, the Insurance for Port authorities, is designed to insure the operational or non operational (landlord) risks faced by port authorities. These specialized covers are supported by a network of local offices with industry expertise throughout the world The text of these policies can be found at ttclub.com. IP

THE AUTHORC. Daniel Negron is an attorney with

more than 20 years of experience in the transportation industry. He is Vice President of Thomas Miller & Co., the managers of TT Club Mutual Insurance Limited, a specialist insurer to ports, ter-minal and logistics operators. Email him at [email protected].

Risk Management & Loss: When Prevention Takes Added Meaning

The 2010 shipping season at the Port of Duluth-Superior closed with the arrival of the John G. Munson, the last vessel inbound for winter layup.

Altogether, ten US-flagged vessels that transport dry bulk cargoes across the

Great Lakes (aka “lakers”) are wintering in the Twin Ports this year. The US Army Corps of Engineers kept the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, open a few extra days to enable companies on the lower Lakes to stockpile more iron ore and coal.

“The industry appreciates how hard Coast Guard icebreakers and local tug operators worked to keep shipping channels open and docks accessible

in heavy ice conditions to extend the season,” said Adolph Ojard, executive director, Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

The 2010 shipping season finished strong in the Port of Duluth-Superior, reaching a season-end total of 39.8 million short tons – a 28 percent increase compared to tonnage handled during the economically depressed navigation season of 2009.

Led by a nearly 80 percent rebound in iron ore shipments for the steel industry, the 2010 season also saw solid performances in limestone, coal and project cargo (i.e. wind turbine components) – plus a 68 percent surge in grain shipments as this Port helped meet global demand for wheat after crop failures in Russia and its neighboring countries.

“We witnessed a significant recovery in 2010; these numbers are very encouraging,” said Ojard. “The rebound in iron ore shipments and steel-mak-ing operations mirrors optimism in other sectors that this country’s economic recovery is gaining strength. Momentum bodes well for an equally strong start to the 2011 navigation season.”

The Port of Duluth-Superior 2010 Season saw these gains:• Overall tonnage – 39.8 million short tons – up 28% from last year • Iron Ore – up 79% from last year to 14.6 million short tons • Grain – up 68% from this time last year • Coal shipments steady at 18.5 million short tons• “Other” cargoes up 30% (led by limestone; also includes cement, salt,

stone & project cargo) • 12 shiploads of wind turbine components – 172,000 freight tons • Vessel visits up 37% To see the full January 2011 & Season Final 2010 tonnage report, visit

www.duluthport.com/port-stats-tonnage.php. IP


Strong finish to 2010 Shipping Season in Duluth-Superior

www.caviblaster.com

united states Congressman hal Rogers (ky-05) was honored with the Tenth an-nual waterways Council, Inc. Leadership

service award on Feb. 16 in washington, dC.“I am humbled and honored to be recognized

by the waterways Council,” stated Rogers. “The importance of our ports and our inland water-way system to our economic security cannot be understated, particularly in opening up access to the global marketplace. It has been my privilege to work with wCI and its membership over the years to help ensure our system is well-main-tained and well-equipped to efficiently ship goods domestically and transport american products internationally. I look forward to continued col-laboration on our shared goal – the development of an efficient, safe and environmentally-sound ‘water highway’ that maintains American com-petitiveness and job-creation.”

serving kentucky’s 5th Congressional district since 1981, Rogers is currently in his 16th term representing southern and eastern kentucky and is the longest serving kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office. Throughout Rogers’ 27-year tenure on the Appropriations Committee,

(Above) Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Chairman of the House Appro-priations Committee (center), was presented Waterways Council’s 10th Annual Leadership Service Award by WCI President and CEO Cornel Martin (left) and WCI Chairman of the Board Rick Calhoun (right) for his work championing ports and waterways issues.

(Below) Congressman Rogers pledged to the WCI contingent to work hard to ensure that America’s waterways remain an affordable, viable shipping and transportation option.


Kentucky Congressman Hal RogersHonored by Waterways Council


he has served on eight different subcom-mittees, including leadership roles as Chairman or Ranking Member of three. Throughout his tenure in Congress, Rogers has been a strong supporter of our inland waterways.

“we are so pleased to have the op-portunity to show our appreciation for the outstanding leadership of Congressman Rogers and to thank him for his commit-ment and service to america’s critical waterway infrastructure,” said Cornel Martin, President/CEO of Waterways Council, Inc. “waterways Council, Inc.’s Leadership Service Award recognizes champions of our nation’s waterways and port system, and Rep. Rogers certainly deserves that recognition.”

Congressman Rogers has high hopes for the future, but stressed patience.

“I don’t have to tell you that this is a historic time,” he said. “on the house Floor, we’re in the midst of a heated and historic debate about the financial trajec-tory of our country.

“we heard a cry from the electorate in november that it’s time to rein in gov-ernment, cut back federal spending and bureaucratic overreach, and eliminate unnecessary obstacles to job-creation. we need to get cracking on reducing our $1.5 trillion deficit and creating certainty in our economy.

“This bill acknowledges the vital importance of our country’s water and sur-face infrastructure to economic develop-ment and job creation.”

Rogers emphasized his support of america’s inland ports and waterways.

“Rivers are america’s original high-ways, and we’ve got nearly 950 miles of river in kentucky alone, along with 19 navigation locks and dams. It therefore stands to reason that I have always been proud to partner with you all to ensure that our inland waterways system is well-maintained and well-equipped to efficient-ly ship goods domestically and transport american products internationally.

“with instability in the oil market and gas prices, our waterways are becoming increasingly important for commerce. you all transported nearly 1 billion tons of commodities in 2008 – 60% of our grain, a quarter of our petroleum and 20% of the coal we use to fire our power plants.

“100 million of these coal tons went through my state of kentucky, worth $10 billion. and there is no question barge

transportation is safe, cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly. I’m told a typi-cal barge keeps more than 1,000 tractor-trailers off our already congested highway system, and that its carbon footprint is miniscule when compared with rail and vehicular transport.”

Rogers then touched on inadequate infrastructure.

“you know and I know that our infra-structure is aging, and it’s starting to catch up with us. More than half of our country’s 240 locks are at least 50 years old, and in dire need of repair. we’ve got some diffi-cult decisions to make regarding the future of the Inland waterways Trust Fund,

which you all have supported through a fuel tax since the 1980s.

“It’s not often we see collaboration like we’ve seen with the Inland waterways us-ers Board, and I applaud your willingness to work together with the army Corps of engineers towards a solution to ensure the long-term viability of our waterway infra-structure. I can’t remember the last time someone came to me, and said, ‘Please, raise my taxes.’ But that’s exactly what you’re doing – and that is an embodiment of the spirit of shared sacrifice I mentioned earlier. I will work hard to ensure that our waterways remain an affordable, viable option for your industry.” IP

www.irpt.net


In a few short years, armstrong Coal has made great prog-ress in its mission to supply clean coal for power genera-

tion. as its newest venture readied to start production, the equality Mine on western kentucky’s Green River, the coal producer set about commissioning a new dock facility 5 miles downstream to serve its coal preparation facility at Center-town, ky.

now in full operation, the new armstrong dock has proved itself to be a showcase for clean, efficient productivity.

The centerpiece of the dock is one of the largest hydraulic material handlers in america: a 350,000 lb. sennebogen 880 R-hd. swinging a 14-yard clamshell and designed to outpace much larger rope cranes, the 880 R-hd is a model of purpose-built efficiency. For a machine of its size, it’s also surprisingly quiet, economical and environmentally friendly, owing to the all-electric drive supplied by sennebogen.

kenny allen, Vice President of operations at armstrong Coal, is well acquainted with heavy equipment driven by high-voltage electric power instead of diesel. “we are already a major user of electric power, in around the 15 Mw range. our mines are using three electrically driven drag lines, with a fourth one set to go. we really chose the sennebogen ma-chine for the way it’s built, but also because of its availability with electric drive.”

An electric-drive Sennebogen 880 R-HD material handler is helping this

coal producer meet all targets for cost-effective unloading operations.

Clean Green Machine Sets the Pace atArmstrong Coal Barge Facility

www.5star-marine.com

according to Gary hirsch, General Manager of Crane and Material handling for Brandeis Machinery, and its sister company Power equipment, Brandeis recommended the sennebogen line to allen. “Brandeis has a long-term relationship with the principal of armstrong Coal and, with our experience in the construction and mining business that stretches over 100 years, we determined that sennebogen offered the ideal solution for their specific needs,” said hirsch. Before purchasing the material handler, though, allen took time to talk to other sennebogen owners in area. The tall green machines have become an increasingly common sight along the Ohio River, though most of the machines in these port facilities are smaller models in the sennebogen line.

allen explains that electric power is a cost-effective solution for his heavy excava-tion and material handling systems. and down on the river, he says, “there’s no con-cern about diesel fuel floating down the river, either!”

Constantino Lannes, President of Sen-nebogen, has been a long-time proponent of electric-drive material handlers. he says low energy costs and “green” operations are just the beginning of the advantages of electric drive. By eliminating the diesel engine, most of the maintenance labor and parts costs are deducted from the machine’s operating bud-get. depending on the energy costs, savings of 50% to 70% on operating costs are normal. uptime is also improved with reduced service demands and no need for refueling – an important consideration for round-the-clock loading facilities.

To build and operate the armstrong dock, allen turned to wabash Marine, a specialist in river construction and contracting based in henderson, ky. “wabash does everything for us on the water – and we take it from there,” says allen.

wabash mounted the material handler to a barge built to their specifications by eagle

Industries of st. Louis. Tom Moosbrugger, President at wabash Marine, explains that components of the 880 R-hd were deliv-ered one piece at a time by Brandeis, so the pieces could be staged for assembly on the barge. Before assembly began, wabash con-structed a platform of 1-ft. oak beams and made provisions to lash the machine to the platform. Completed, the barge was brought to the armstrong dock, 100 river miles upstream.

armstrong Coal’s 880 R-hd features sennebogen’s popular hydraulically elevating cab. The operator can move the cab up and out, within a radius of almost 20 feet, to achieve the best vantage point for seeing the target area while loading as well as the area around the machine.

The cab can also be ordered with a floor-level window for downward visibility. as well as helping work more productively, this cab configuration can be a valuable safety feature. when un-loading barges, the operator can maintain a clear line of sight to a skid steer performing clean-up work inside the barge.” IP


(L-R) Matt Bueltel (Brandeis Machine), Ron Sharp (Armstrong Coal), Gary Hirsch (Brandeis General Manager), John Bruce (Armstrong Coal), Kenny Allen (Armstrong Coal) and Andreas Ernst (Sennebogen).

Terminal quayside container unloading operations need to be linked flexibly with yard stacking operations. The new

Boxrunner straddle carrier from konecranes is the flexible link between ship-to-shore cranes and automated yard cranes.

The new konecranes Boxrunner straddle carrier offers unique container handling performance to two distinct container handling operations. The first is represented by large container terminal operators that are adopting automation technology for greater efficiency. The second is represented by a potentially di-verse range of companies that do not have container handling as a core competence, and yet handle incoming and outgoing materi-als in containers – often using trucks and trailers or custom-engi-neered, stationary gantry cranes. Boxrunner can be a much more effective solution for their container handling needs.

Boxrunner is the product of konecranes’ long experience in the straddle carrier business and a deep understanding of the needs of container handling operations. The design process start-ed by asking a number of key customers the question: “what are the characteristics of the perfect straddle carrier?” Their answers inspired the Boxrunner’s principle performance and ownership characteristics i.e. speed, outstanding handling, durability, opera-tor friendliness , low maintenance with long service intervals, and a low total cost of ownership.

“we listened to our container handling customers and in-corporated their feedback resulting in the launch of this special machine, the Boxrunner, a uniquely advanced straddle carrier,” says Jens andreas, General Manager, konecranes straddle Carri-ers. “It provides the industry’s highest lifecycle value in the role it was designed for.”

The Boxrunner is a machine for professionals who care about long-term benefits based on lifecycle cost calculations that take into account performance metrics, fuel efficiency and mainte-nance interval length.

qUAYSIDE FLExIBILITYThe Boxrunner gives large container terminal operators a

flexible and efficient means of moving containers from ship-to-shore (sTs) cranes to the automated stacking cranes (asCs). The key word here is flexibility. Boxrunner can deal with almost any requirement during this phase of the operation e.g. boosting sTs unloading speed to maximum or handling containers of different Iso sizes. The Boxrunner is adapted to handle all Iso container sizes, stacking two-high at high speed.

“we have a very simple formula for delivering customer value,” says andreas. “we maximize the productivity of uptime and minimize the cost of downtime with the Boxrunner, thus boosting the productivity of our customers’ operations.”


Konecranes Introduces New Boxrunner StraddleCarrier for Container Operations

http://www.marinetech.org/rov_competition/


Inland barge transportation produces far feweremissions of carbon dioxide for each ton of cargo moved. Transport by rail emits 39% more CO2,and by truck emits 371% more CO2 compared to barges, according to a recent study by the TexasTransportation Institute.

Inland barges produce less carbon dioxidewhile moving America’s important cargoes.

Waterways Council, Inc.801 N. Quincy St., Suite 200 | Arlington, Virginia 22203703-373-2261 | www.waterwayscouncil.org

BARGES: The Greener Way to Go

konecranes designs and manufactures Boxrunner’s key components in-house to make sure they work together flawlessly. The new straddle carrier is built around a very rigid structure that provides excellent handling performance and direct steer-ing. Powered by a diesel-electric (de) drive and rope hoist system, the Boxrunner is offered as a 50 t twin twenty lift machine and as a 40 t single lift machine that can travel at 30 km/h with a 25 m/min hoist speed. “Boxrunner is a technologically advanced machine that is truly driver-friendly and maintenance-friendly,” says Jost dämmgen, sales Manager, Port Cranes. “we want to deliver high-performance, high-quality vehicles to our customers. The Boxrunner exceeds expectations for drive feel and performance, and meets expectations for reliability, safety and maintenance.”

UNIqUE KONECRANES TECHNOLOGYThe Boxrunner uses konecranes’ unique rope and drum hoist-

ing system, a proven technology from the company’s popular rub-ber-tired gantry cranes and rail-mounted gantry cranes. It also has an electronic-hydraulic system with four-cylinder steering for less tire wear, fewer spare parts, a greaseless gantry and very low maintenance. The driver’s cabin is a model of ergonomic design

providing excellent visibility. Its simple controls and displays help to ensure safety, accuracy and speed.

“with space in short supply at ports and quays, the Boxrun-ner is an excellent choice be-cause it can take on several roles, eliminating the need for other container transport equipment. It is very stable and has excellent straight driving characteristics thanks to its 4-axle steering system. Comparatively speak-ing, every operator that has tested the Boxrunner has been impressed by its superior drive feel and sense of control aided by innovative and intelligent displays. Moreover, we offer our customers outstanding service packages,” says andreas.

konecranes’ group of lifting businesses serve a broad range of customers, including manu-

facturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2009, Group sales totalled euR 1,671 million. The group has 9,800 employees at 545 locations in 43 countries.

konecranes is listed on nasdaQ oMX helsinki Ltd. as a global player in the design, manufacture, delivery and servicing of container handling equipment, konecranes expects to make the first delivery during the first quarter of 2011. IP

www.waterwayscouncil.org

Risk

sRisks in the movement of goods and people have always been present in the nation’s inland water-

ways ever since humans first began to ply their way on water.

Today’s risks are magnified as our dependency on waterway transportation becomes ever more acute. The solutions to risk mitigation will lie in minimizing vulnerability of these waterways, along with inland ports while also maximizing the efficiency of opera-tions for vessel movement and port operations.

what are the risks faced by inland waterways?• Pollution• Crime• accidents• natural disasters• epidemics• TerrorismRisks can be obvious, such as a leaking oil tanker,

but risks can also be less apparent, such as a box of leaking chemicals inside of a container.

how many of these risks have we encountered? we recall Hurricane Katrina slamming into the Port of new orleans and bringing shipping to a halt, or the critical bridge connecting important interstates in Minneapolis, Minn., suffering cracks that killed drivers trapped in their vehicles as well as cutting off traffic between interstates.

Pollution of the Concord River in 2004 was dis-covered when Percholorate, which affects the func-tion of the thyroid gland, was found in explosives, airbag inflators and the like dumped in the river. And we read of the case of domestic terrorism when Baldwin County, ala., found a bridge damaged in november by a local citizen suspected of job-related anger.

Perhaps the most notable recent risk came with the BP oil explosion in the Gulf Coast that severely curtailed maritime activities for so many months along our southern coast.

Thus we see that our inland waterways are at risk not only by activities within our shores, but by those offshore as well.

In a recent public webinar offered by american Public university (aPu) and Maritime Professional, Professor don Mckay suggested an implemented program of knowledge management as an essential component of risk mitigation. he suggested the fol-lowing:

• owners of infrastructure need to utilize a com-mon framework to manage risks.

• They must identify the means to implement best practices.

• utilize simulation and contingency planning as a means to reduce mistakes and retain knowledge.

• utilize Total Quality Management to solidify best practices which insure operational efficiency and minimize asset vulnerability.

human capital is a critical component in secur-ing assets. another speaker in the webinar offered by aPu was Joe keefe, who stipulated the urgent need to increase the maritime workforce’s capabilities in compliance with us Coast Guard safety and secu-rity regulations. he had a sharp focus on the use of online learning to expedite the training of maritime professionals with the following. The online experi-ence must do three basic things in order to achieve the desired goals for training:

1. Provide an interactive experience which re-quires input and participation from the student and not just merely “attendance.”

2. deliver knowledge and result in measurable competence.

3. achieve the goals of the client and/or comply with the regulatory requirements.

The path toward online learning in the maritime arena has been slow, but aPu’s webinar demon-strated reasons to expect increasing development in the field.

The security of our inland waterways and ports is not a matter of “physical security” alone. If so, the best physical security might be to close a port down so that we eliminate the chance for theft – obviously an absurd solution. nor is the solution to simply allow organizations to operate unimpeded by the requirement to protect assets.

The solution lies in finding the optimum balance. security and transportation professionals working together offer the best option to find this balance. IP

The AuthorIrvin Varkonyi has three decades of experience

in the transportation and logistics industry. He is Marketing Manager for Transportation and Logis-tics Programs at the American Public University, where he is also an adjunct professor teach-ing transportation security, global logistics, comparative transportation systems, and business logistics engineering. He also holds adjunct professor positions at George Mason Uni-versity’s School of Public Policy and the University of Denver.


Inland Ports & WaterwaysMust Effectively ManageBy Irvin VarkonyiAdjunct ProfessorAmerican Public University

risksInland Port

MAGAZINE


The Western River Area Maritime security Committee, more commonly

referred to as wRaMs, was established in January 2004 using 33 CFR 103.300 (area Maritime Secu-rity Committees) as its guiding precept. wRaMs was created to provide a forum for Western Riv-ers Regional port stakeholders to work together in facilitating the Coast Guard’s Ports, waterways, and Coastal security (PwCs) mission: to deter, detect, prevent and respond to attacks against us terri-tory, population, and critical maritime infrastructure.

In 2008, it was determined that wRaMs was not a federally-mandated

and official area Maritime security “committee.” so it was transformed into the wRaMs Partnership. Currently, the Partnership meets once or twice a year

and still abides by the original mission statement created in the 2004 wRaMs Charter.

The group’s most recent meet-ing, held in new orleans, La. on December 2, 2010, was a significant

step towards revitalizing the wRaMs Partnership, which has been dormant since the beginning of 2009.

wRaMs’ Chairperson, Coast Guard Captain david Rokes, and his Vice-Chairperson, dr. deirdre McGowan, of Inland Rivers Ports and Terminals (IRPT),

encouraged open discussion on present and future holistic river system concerns and updated the original Charter as a way to facilitate this discourse.

In addition to refreshing the Char-ter, the group set realistic expectations and goals for the next 12 months, which include expanding partnerships to other government and industry organizations; conducting outreach with various com-panies to become more knowledgeable on new initiatives and technologies available in the realm of maritime security; and ensuring that Area Maritime Security Committees are kept abreast of all river based security exercises, best practices and lessons learned.

Though it is not an officially-mandated committee, the WRAMS Partnership is indeed leading the way to ensure that the inland river system’s security is viewed and considered from an interconnecting perspective. IP

Western River Area Maritime Security Partnership: The Past, Present, and Future of WRAMSBy LT Jennifer Makowski

Port of Pittsburgh. Credit USACE.

www.dredgingcontractors.org

www.marcon.com

Dear Chairwoman Sutley:we appreciate the challenges you face in formulating

revisions to the Principles and Guidelines for water and Related Land Resources Planning (the P&G). we write to you to communicate concerns and recommendations that we hope you will adopt as you work toward completion of this important effort.

In his state of the union address, President obama sounded the compelling theme of winning our future. he drew the strong and clear linkages of our future well-being to infrastructure and the competiveness of our great workforce in the global economy and the strategic role of exports in revitalizing our historic path-ways of upward economic mobility. Just days after delivering his state of the union message, the President signed an executive order, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review. The order emphasizes the parity of our national objectives for public health, welfare, safety, and our environment while promoting economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. This policy statement is as directly applicable to investment in and manage-ment of water resources as it to regulation.

In the President’s state of the union address and the executive order, the administration has laid a firm foundation that should guide the completion of CeQ’s Proposed national objectives,

Principles and standards for water and Related Resources Implementa-tion studies (Proposal). Water resources de-velopment is a critical component of achieving the President’s vision. Recognizing the critical role of our water resourc-es infrastructure to a robust economy, job cre-ation and environmental well-being, it is impera-tive that the Proposal establish a clear, concise, and workable framework to guide the development of these critical projects. as pointed out by the na-tional Research Council (nRC) in its report on the Proposal and in numer-ous public comments, the Proposal fundamentally fails to achieve this critical end.

We therefore urge you to act on recommendations contained in the nRC report and reissue a new draft proposal for public review and comment, including additional review by the nRC. This new draft must ensure that any resulting planning document sets forth a path to balanced solutions, clear and consistent guid-ance to planners, and replicable results that are understandable to all stakeholders. Failure to establish a long-term, viable planning model will have a devastating effect on our nation’s economic stability at a time when we can ill-afford it.

Given the serious concerns raised in the nRC report, several fundamental flaws must be addressed. at the outset, as nRC points out, CeQ’s Proposal is only a partial revision to the plan-ning documents – lacking any detail on implementing “Guide-lines” and planning procedures. Given this, we further urge CeQ to cease the efforts presently underway to revise the “Guidelines” applicable to planning studies. such efforts are entirely premature given the substantial revisions to the draft Proposal that are war-ranted. It is simply not feasible to continue on the path forward preparing the implementation phase of the planning documents until the fundamental Principles have been established.

The NRC report further finds that:“The proposed revisions contain both general planning prin-

ciples, and steps and concepts that could be part of a planning process. The planning principles are highly abstract and not fully consistent, while the planning steps collectively are confusing and lack sufficient coherence for practical implementation. as such, the proposed revisions have only limited value as policy guidance and are inadequate as an operational, or ‘decision’ document.”

The flaws articulated by the nRC report undermine the


A letter to the Honorable Nancy Sutley, of the Prsident’s Council on Environmental quality, regarding Proposed National Objectives, Principles and Standards for Water and Related Resources Implementation Studies

NWC Emphasizes Water Resource Recommendations

By Amy Larson, Esq.President

National Waterways Conferencewaterways.org

www.waterways.org

integrity of the entire Proposal; these criticisms are not merely superficial. Rather, as the report points out, the Proposal fails to clearly state its intended applicability, creating uncertainty as to whether it is intended as general policy guidance, a decision document that specifies planning steps, or both. we urge you to consider the alternative set forth in the report of making the Prin-ciples and standards a broad policy statement and then request each relevant water agency to report on how it will help implement national water principles and priorities. similarly, providing that each agency review its implementing guidance and address termi-nological issues will address many of the concerns about vague, conflicting and inconsistent terminology and concepts throughout the document as described in the report.

The report notes that many national water management is-sues lie outside the missions of the agencies to which the Pro-posal would apply. such inconsistent application would create significant uncertainty at a time when water resources planners, including those at all levels - Federal, state and local - are working to develop a collaborative, integrated approach to water manage-ment. Local communities and non-Federal sponsors who bear a significant share of the cost of projects will be faced with the prospect of substantially higher costs as a result of a confusing and unpredictable process. Many would be forced to forego par-ticipation in projects, resulting in job losses and local economic harm. at a time when we ought to be encouraging Federal, state and local cooperation in water resources, the Proposal ignores state and local participation and, instead, inappropriately adopts a Federal-centric approach.

NWC Lists its Recommendationsas we have previously articulated to CeQ in our comments,

a clear, concise and workable set of Principles applicable to the planning and development of water resources projects which ap-propriately reflect the national interest in water resources must:

• utilize cost-benefit analysis and other such recognized and proven analytical tools as a basis to compare options,

• Provide for the unbiased consideration of all alternatives, and not exclude or penalize classes of alternatives from consider-ation and recommendation,

• Require that decisions are made based on an assessment of net beneficial effects, and

• establish a peer review process that is appropriate to the potential impacts of the project and seamlessly integrated into the planning process.

with respect to cost-benefit analysis, the nRC report finds that CeQ’s Proposal is “inconsistent with generally accepted ap-plication of benefit-cost analysis in at least two important ways.” In addition to the obvious – and serious - deficiency this finding reveals, it also indicates that the Proposal runs directly counter to the new executive order requiring that Federal regulations maxi-mize net benefits and not be unduly burdensome.

Finally, it is our view that the Proposal, as drafted, funda-mentally fails to respond to the requirements of section 2031 of wRda 2007. This finding alone argues for a restart of the revi-sion effort from the beginning. we encourage you to revisit the requirements of this provision as you begin again to revise the P&G.

we believe our recommendations will provide a direct, ef-fective and expeditious way to contribute to the President’s goal of winning the future and the administration’s principles for integrating complex national objectives into sound decisions and recommendations. we look forward to working with you in the next round of review and comments. IP

Respectfully submitted,Amy W. Larson


NWC Responds to Obama’sUSACE Budget AllocationAs IP went to press, NWC released a statement denouncing the inad-equate funding for the Army Corps of Engineers civil works program in the Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2012. Despite the President’s recent rhetoric on the importance of infrastructure, the $4.6 billion proposal fails to recognize that investments in our nation’s water resources infrastructure are investments in our nation’s future.

In his State of the Union Address, the President drew the strong and clear linkages of our future well-being to infrastructure and the competitive-ness of our great workforce in the global economy, including the strategic role of exports in revitalizing our economy. Water resources development is a vital component of achieving the President’s vision.

Unfortunately, the Administration’s budget fails to recognize the critical role of our water resources infrastructure to a robust economy, job creation and environmental well-being. Our water resources infrastructure provides life-saving flood control, abundant water supplies, shore protection, water-based recreation, environmental restoration, and hydropower production, essential to our economic well-being. Moreover, waterways transportation is the safest, most energy-efficient and environmentally sound mode of transportation.

NWC Chairman Fred Caver says, “Investments in infrastructure are long-term investments in the strength and security of the nation. We are disappointed that the Administration’s budget fails to recognize these compelling needs, choosing instead to emphasize environmental restora-tion to the detriment of our aging infrastructure. We urge the Congress – in recognition of the multiple benefits that our water resources infrastructure offers - to provide funding for our nation’s essential capital investments.” IP


Local officials in Central Elgin, Ontario have agreed to begin formal discussions with the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority regarding the launch of a ferry service between Port Stanley and Cleveland. The Central Elgin Council passed a resolution that supports further discussions with Cleveland port officials. Central Elgin is the governing authority over Port Stanley. Talks between the municipality and Port Authority are now expected to accelerate. The Port of New Orleans and the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) will host the 3rd Annual Critical Commodities Conference April 26-28, 2011 in the NEW ORLEANS. The conference will focus on the production and transportation of commodities that drive our economy, such as steel, steelmaking raw materi-als, energy products and agricultural goods. Organizers expect about 500 participants. The conference will feature Dan DiMicco, who has served as chairman and CEO of Nucor Corp since 2000. Other speakers include Dan Borné of the Louisiana Chemical Association, Rick Dougherty of Cargill Ferrous International, John O’Leary of Arkema, Rick Bertel of Rio Grande Pacific, Attorney Michael Chalos, Chris Evans of the London Metal Exchange, John Williams of Zen-Noh and Vic Heinold of CGB, among others. Online registration available at www.criticalcommoditiesconference.com. For more informa-tion about sponsorships, exhibiting at the conference or registering contact Jimmy Baldwin at (504) 588-2981 or [email protected] .

IRPT’s very own First Vice-President, Mike Tagert, was recently elected the North Mississippi Transportation Commissioner. “Transportation means jobs for North Mississippi,” said Tagert. “It is the catalyst for economic

development. Through my work experience and educa-tion, I have the needed understanding and the know how to promote all modes of transportation for the sake of private investment and job creation.”

Tagert has pursued a career embracing both public and private sectors, serving as a Special Projects Officer for the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, as Executive Director of the State Bureau of Plant Industry, as a member of the Alabama Intermodal Infrastructure Advisory Board, as Vice President of the Coalition of Ala-bama Waterway Associations, and as the Vice President of Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals, Inc. Also, Tagert currently serves as a member of the Trade and Trans-portation Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and as the leading Economic Development Manager for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

While leading the Waterway’s economic develop-ment and promotional efforts, some of Tagert’s other accomplishments include the successful designation of the Marine Highway (M-65) Corridor, spearheading vari-ous legislative initiatives including Mississippi’s Interstate Pest Control Compact, and signing a recent International Agreement with the Panama Canal Authority to promote future trade and transportation via the Gulf of Mexico and Northeast Mississippi.

The Annual Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Devel-opment Opportunities Conference is scheduled for August 30 through September 2, 2011 at Marriott’s Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama. For more information contact Agnes Zaiontz toll free 888-TENNTOM or email [email protected]. PortVision appointed James Perduto as Director of Transportation and Government Business Development to

lead sales initiative in the Northeast. Based in New York, James assumes responsibility for business development for the company’s enterprise software solutions and PortVision, a web-based platform that provides visibility and reporting for global commercial AIS vessel tracking activities.

The Alabama State Port Authority’s (ASPA) is actively seeking prospects to lease and operate its Bulk Material Handling Plant at the Port of Mobile. The Bulk Plant, located on the north end of the port, has been operated by the Port Authority as a multi-commodity dry bulk facility. The Bulk Plant amenities are 1,543 foot of berth, unload-ing tower cranes, a combination stacker/ loading tower and a conveyor system that serves the unloading cranes, the stacker / loader tower and the bulk-material-handling plant behind the wharf. The bulk plant also includes three (3) large storage warehouses totaling 220,000 square feet. In March 2009, ASPA completed the installation of a bulk material rail unloading system to unload unit trains at the facility. New rail construction included the installation of approximately 10,300 feet of track, four new switches, and a new reinforced concrete rail pit. Interested parties that have demonstrated experience in the successful operation of a deep-water bulk materials import/export facility can request a package through [email protected] or view online at www.asdd.com/notices.html under the heading Requests for Proposals.

Norfolk Southern will provide rail-switching services for Port of Indiana in a landmark agreement designed to improve service and increase business for Indiana port customers. For the first time since the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opened in 1970, the Lake Michigan port will have an onsite, dedicated rail-switching service.

“We’re excited to partner with Norfolk Southern to improve rail service at our port,” said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. “This partnership creates several opportunities for our customers to grow business, including implementing unit trains where appropriate, improving switching services inside the port, and working closely with other carriers when opportunities present themselves. Having a world-class Class I carrier with a major rail yard, equipment and crews located immediately adjacent to us will create significant advantages for our port customers.”

In 2010, the Ports of Indiana submitted a request for proposals from a variety of rail carriers in an effort to im-prove rail service for current port customers and increase business opportunities involving rail shipments through the port. After an extensive review of several proposals from around the country, the Ports of Indiana selected Norfolk Southern to be the dedicated rail-switching service provider for the port.

“We’ve been providing rail service at the Port of Indiana for years, and this was a great opportunity for us to expand our business to meet the needs of port custom-ers,” said Steve Evans, Norfolk Southern’s assistant vice president for ports and international business. “This agreement not only improves daily rail service to our port customers, but it will also increase operational efficiencies at both Norfolk Southern and the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, making it be a win-win for all parties involved.” The new arrangement still provides direct connectivity to the Indiana Harbor Belt and other rail carriers.

“Our current rail users provided significant feedback on how we could further improve service at the port,” said Peter Laman, port director for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. “After reviewing a number of high quality propos-als, we believed Norfolk Southern could provide immedi-ate solutions to a number of those issues and they made it clear to us they were interested in helping us identify opportunities that could add new rail volume at the port.”

Operated by the Ports of Indiana, the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor is a leading international port on the Great Lakes that handles billions of dollars in shipments each year by ocean-going vessels, lake ships, river barges, rail and trucks. As one of the largest steel ports in the country, the Port of Indiana annually contributes $3.5 billion in economic activity and 25,941 total jobs to the regional economy. The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port author-

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ity that operates a system of three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan in Burns Harbor, Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville.

The Ports of Indiana handled more than 7.7 million tons of cargo at its three ports in 2010 – an increase of eight percent over the previous year. New cargoes and agricultural-related shipments helped propel the state port system to its largest annual tonnage since 2006. The Ports of Indiana experienced business growth on several fronts in 2010, including the purchase of new land, construction of $12.5 million in new infrastructure, expansions at five port companies, opening of the ports’ largest facility and extension of foreign-trade zone services to more than 20 counties.

“The Ports of Indiana enjoyed one of best years on record in 2010,” said Rich Cooper, CEO of the Ports of Indiana. “Despite recent economic troubles, this is the third consecutive year that overall shipments have increased, and this was our second largest total in 12 years. What’s even more exciting is that many of last year’s developments were designed to seed future growth. A very high standard has been set for 2011 and we have to capitalize on the momentum we’ve built.” In 2010, there were significant increases in shipments of grain, fertilizer and steel, but the biggest impact came from the arrival of new cargoes: ethanol, dried-distillers grain (DDGs) and “heavy lift” cargoes, which included building-size storage tanks, transformers and ship engines as well as a windmill project that required 11 shiploads of components. Worldwide demand for local grain drove up agricultural shipments for both outbound grain (13 percent) and inbound fertilizer (22 percent), while steel shipments gained momentum from a recover-ing U.S. manufacturing sector to increase 12 percent compared to 2009.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor shipped 14-times more heavy lift cargo in 2010 than the previous year, which resulted in a 43-percent increase in overall ship-ments and a total tonnage of 1.8 million. On the Ohio River, the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville handled 1.7 million tons of cargo, an increase of 27 percent over the previous year and the fourth largest annual total in port history. The Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon recorded its second highest cargo volume since 1996, with more than 4.2 million tons in 2010.

Mount Vernon tonnage got a late boost from the opening of the largest facility ever built at Indiana’s three ports as Aventine Renewable Energy completed construction on a 110-million gallon ethanol plant in December. The 112-acre facility is expected to process 40 million bushels of corn from local farmers in 2011, nearly three-times the port’s corn volume in previous years. With the recent opening of two area ethanol plants – Aventine and nearby Abengoa Bioenergy – Con-solidated Grain and Barge expanded its port operations by opening a unique rail-to-barge terminal that began transloading ethanol and dried distillers grain midway through 2010.

In Jeffersonville, four port companies made signifi-cant expansions to facilities during 2010. Consolidated Grain and Barge upgraded a barge-loading conveyor, Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp. added petroleum storage, Steel Dynamics began constructing a new distri-bution facility, and Voss/Clark Industries started working on additional space for new processing equipment.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) appointed three new directors to its Board, each to serve a three year term. Robert Armstrong serves as the representative for the Government of Ontario. He is the President of Armstrong Trade and Logistics Advisory Services Inc. (ATLAS) and President of the Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Canada (SCL). Mr. Armstrong has over 40 years of experi-

ence in the fields of global supply chain management, international trade, cross border logistics and customs regulations and procedures. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, as the National Vice-President of Hong Kong Canada Business Association, and as Chair of the METROLINX Goods Movement Roundtable.

Ralph Mercier joins the Board as the representa-tive for the Government of Quebec. Mr. Mercier has extensive business experience, having owned a printing business for over 25 years. He also served as Mayor of Charlesbourg between 1984 and 2001, and continues to be active in a wide variety of community initiatives and boards. Mr. Mercier holds a degree in commerce from Laval University.

Wayne Devlin is the new representative for the grain industry. Currently Assistant Vice President of the AgHorizons Export Terminals, Mr. Devlin held many finance positions as his career progressed with Cargill. During this time, he gained experience in the grain and crop inputs business in Eastern and Western Canada. Mr. Devlin graduated from Red River College with a Business Administration Diploma and is a Certified Management Accountant.

Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC, welcomed the appointment of the directors. “We look forward to the insights that these proven leaders can bring to our Board. Since the Seaway’s inception in 1959, the nature of our business has changed markedly. We will be diligently working in the years to come to grow and diversify our business, and the breadth of experience that these directors possess will be invaluable towards this end.”

The St. Lawrence Seaway experienced a rebound in activity over the course of the 2010 navigation season, with a 15% increase in cargo volume yielding an estimated total of 35.5 million tons. Shipments of iron ore posted a strong 35% gain over the level witnessed in 2009. Grain likewise showed improvement, posting a 10% increase year over year. Coupled with a 63% surge in general cargo, which consists principally of iron and steel break-bulk shipments and project cargo such as wind turbine components, the Seaway finished the year on a positive note.

With the release of President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget, the American Association of Port Authori-ties (AAPA) – which represents seaports throughout the Western Hemisphere – expressed both optimism and disappointment over various aspects of the budget pertaining to seaports and the efficient, safe and cost-effective movement of freight.

Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO, said that a potential bright spot for seaports in the Administration’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget is the plan’s heightened commitment to infrastructure investment. The budget includes a robust, six-year, $556 billion surface trans-portation authorization proposal, as well as a $50 billion up-front, first-year outlay which provides $2 billion for a National Infrastructure Investments program, similar to TIGER. Last year, TIGER program grants funded $95 million in seaport-related infrastructure such as roads, rails, bridges, tunnels and navigable waterways that connect with ports.

Among the elements proposed for the Department of Transportation budget would be a National Infrastruc-ture Bank (I-Bank) that would leverage federal dollars and focus on investments in projects of national and regional significance. The I-Bank would provide grants, loans or a blend of both to an expanded list of eligible multi-modal projects, including highway, transit, rail, aviation, seaport and maritime initiatives. An example in the budget’s supporting materials is that the I-Bank could support improvements in road and rail access to ports. IP

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The L

ast W

ordA Revealing Look at Industry Leaders

How did you become involved in this industry?My former boss at Regions Bank, Sheldon Morgan, was heav-ily involved with waterways during his career. When he retired, he became President of the Warrior-Tom-bigbee Waterway Association. Later he asked me to serve on the Board and then made me Treasurer. I never confirmed this, but believe he knew my skills as a banker were a work in progress, and felt this would be a good experience to improve. When I re-tired from banking, he lured me into taking this job, as he was ready for retirement. He promised me there were never any issues that concerned the waterways, nor were there any days that fishing would not be part of the daily activity.

What is your opinion on the various industry organizations and their effectiveness?I work closely with the other waterway organizations in Alabama and with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway group, along with NWC. I have also had good interaction with WCI. And then members of my association belong to AWO and other groups, so I see much work done to make our waterways more efficient and safe. However, we have yet to achieve the level of success that our highway associa-tions have achieved in regards to funding and expansion. Even though we don’t have con-gestion, capacity problems, or emission issues like the highway industry, we still don’t have the recognition of how much of the countries commerce moves by water.

Brag on your family a bit.I am married with three daughters and four grandsons, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1. We fish, play golf, wrestle, swim, and catch lizards. And by the way, my wife, Shirley, is very good at this. My daughters always had me wrapped around their fingers, until the grandsons came on the scene. Now everyone controls me.

What was your favorite project or assignment you’ve been involved in during your career, and why?Making a trip on the river with the Corps of Engineers. What enjoyment that was, as I saw and learned things about the Warrior-

Tombigbee Rivers that only the experience of being with a riverboat pilot could reveal. Plus I

got the viewpoint of the Corps about river issues and why they need attention on a regular basis. The only problem was that, during the trip, they would not let me troll behind the boat, and at night when we tied up... again, these folks thought the trip was business only. Except for the dinner that night.

What was your least favorite?This is hard. If we were talking about

banking I could write a book, but the water-ways? Everything has been new and learning is always a fun experience.

What’s the last song that played on your CD or MP3 player?MP3 player? The last song played on my 45 rpm was a dandy by Elvis What’s-his-name. It was something about Blue shoes that need shining.

What accomplishments – professional and personal – are you most proud of?Well, let’s see, there was this time when I skipped a rock 23 times, beating my best friend Doug, who could only get 17 skips out of a rock. Actually, while there have been profes-sional accomplishments, the thing that means the most to me is finally realizing what “quality” time with family means. Early in my career it was career, and then later it was all about job. My girls grew up and even though we are very close, it was the grandsons that taught me what quality time is all about.

If you could go back and tell your teenage self one thing, what would that be?Are you kidding? Answering this might get me a divorce.

Without naming names to protect the innocent (or guilty), what is the single most unbelievable thing you have seen happen on a project in your career?Didn’t actually see either of these two events but, the first was a tow going down river during flood conditions. When they got to a bridge, they tried normal procedures to release a tow through the bridge and then to pick up

downstream. However, conditions caused the boat to get sideways and then to flip over as it went under the bridge, only to right itself down-stream and eventually continue on. Nobody was hurt or killed. The other thing was having boat captains tell me about jumping dams during floods because it was safer than trying to go through a lock. Unbelievable.

What do you want to be when you grow up?Founder of the Kirby/Parker/Merrihew Towing Company.

Tell us something no one knows about you.What, and go to jail? Actually, no one knows that I am an avid fisherman. Not because no one has seen me fish, or been with me on a fishing trip, but because it is a rare exception when someone sees me catch a fish. I once caught one in my daughter’s aquarium, but that might not count. My other best friend, Ty, and I fish a lot, but I can truthfully say he is a much worse fisherman than I. Maybe it is because he doesn’t hold his head just right, or maybe it is because he is a chocolate Lab.

If you could make an elected official under-stand one thing about the inland port and waterways industry, what would it be?Now this is a tough question. To narrow it down to one thing, that is. First of all, few know what an inland port or waterway looks like. Secondly, very few know anything about our locks and dams. (Or is that damn locks?) I would take the elected official from the loading of barges at an inland port, down the waterway with the tow, and through discharging cargo.

If you make the general public understand one thing about the inland ports and waterways industry, what would it be?The more shipped through the inland system, the cheaper the product, and less trucks on the highways.

What’s your favorite?Movie: John Wayne’s McClintockBook: Louis L’Amour’s The Sackett seriesBand or Artist: Elvis Presley (his songs are the only ones I can remember when I get in the shower)TV Show: I Love Lucy Sport: Golf or tennis or fishing or taking a nap

What piece of equipment has not been invented yet, but will revolutionize the inland port industry?Okay, who told you I was trying to get a patent on my new...

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?I would return to 18 years of age while retain-ing the knowledge gained since then. IP

Larry MerrihewPresident, Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association

www.seabotix.com

www.heavymachinesinc.com

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