Port keeps working to clear channels

Major dredging projects continue at the Port of Morgan City despite some delays, while a solution to a smaller but persistent problem may be in the works.
At Monday’s Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District meeting, Coast Guard Lt. Hayley Gipson told the commissioners that mariners using the Atchafalaya River north of Berwick are finding ways to get around Stoute’s Pass, where sediment buildup has led to vessel groundings in recent months.
In September, the Coast Guard recorded twice as many vessel transits through the Little Island area than through Stoute’s Pass, Gipson said. In the same month, four vessel groundings occurred at Stoute’s Pass, and only one of the vessels was able to free itself without assistance.
The Little Island-Middle Island route isn’t maintained by either the Coast Guard or the Corps of Engineers, Gipson said.
That led to discussion about whether Little Island-Middle Island could be established as a formally recognized route.
“We’re going to go through the process that we need to go through to formalize this as a route,” said Tim Connell, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager in New Orleans.
Another possible solution would be to divert a Weeks Marine dredge scheduled to work in Berwick Bay to Stoute’s Island to make the passage there easier.
But Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade was concerned about diverting work that could otherwise help riverside businesses that rely on access to the water.
“We definitely want the businesses open,” Wade said. “It’s critical. …”
Three major dredging projects continue: work by the Brice Civil Constructors’ specially designed Arulaq between Eugene Island and the sea buoy on a contract with a $21.8 million cap; the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co.’s Alaska, working on a $20.1 million contract; and Manson Construction’s Newport, working on a $7 million contract.
The Weeks Marine dredge was scheduled to begin work in Berwick Bay but was reassigned to emergency work in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway after Hurricane Ida. Wade expects the dredge to begin its Berwick Bay dredging in mid-November.
Also Monday:
—Gipson told the commissioners that vessel transits were up 10% in September from the same month in 2020, even though tow traffic was down 5%.
—Two more pieces of the capsized car-carrier Golden Ray will be moving through port waters on their way to Modern American Recycling Services, a salvage yard in Gibson.
The 656-foot Golden Ray capsized with its load of 4,000 cars in St. Simon Sound near Brunswick, Georgia, in 2019.
—The area near the Bayou Chene Flood Control Project site remains closed to vessel traffic 7 p.m.-7 a.m. as construction enters a phase when the work would be vulnerable to vessel strikes.
Vessels more than 600 feet long or 54 feet wide require an assist vessel to move through the area.