Nightmare on the Mississippi River

Published Feb 25, 2004 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

Every port system in the world contemplates and prepares responsible plan for port closure due to emergencies. Gary LaGrange, Executive Director/CEO of the Port of New Orleans is dealing this week with human tragedy, an oil spill, thousands of stranded cruise ship passengers, and a complete shut-down of commerce on the Mississippi River.

?Our first concern is for the families of the five crew members of the Lee III,? said Mr. LaGrange after the 178-foot offshore boat, Lee III, collided in the fog with a 534 ?foot container ship, Zim Mexico III, on Saturday (February 21).

The river from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico was first closed when a Chinese freighter hit a moored oil tanker at Norco, 30 miles west of New Orleans, puncturing its fuel tanks and spilling 22,000 gallons of fuel oil. The cargo tanks were not breeched and remained intact, but the river was closed until Friday afternoon (February 20).

The Coast Guard identified a crew member of the Lee III as Lawrence Glass, 65, of Mobile, Alabama. Two additional crew members of the Lee have been located in the supply vessel, but could not be recovered due to 4-to 5-knot currents.

The crew of the Lee III have been identified as Lawrence Glass (recovered), and four Texas men: Joseph Brown, 44, of Vidor, Daniel Lopez, 31, Port Arthur, Ramon Norwood, 27, Galveston, and Baldemar Villerreal, 54, of Lake Jackson.

The Coast Guard closed the river, because it fears that passing ships could dislodge the Lee, causing it to float downriver. Currently, there are 51 vessels waiting to go upriver, and 52 waiting to head downriver.

In the midst of the oil spill and supply boat sinking is Mardi Gras and the peak of the cruise line activity in New Orleans. The Carnival Holiday was diverted to Mobile; Gulfport handled the diverted Carnival Conquest and the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody. However, the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas is still stuck in New Orleans.

There are problems in upriver ports as well, as ships and barges remain stuck in traffic.