VESSELS STACK UP AT NEW ORLEANS

[proud_ionian]

EIGHTY-six vessels are reported caught in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, awaiting transit to or through the Port of New Orleans, according to a US Coast Guard statement. All bridges, floodgates, and locks in the New Orleans area remain closed.

The USCG says its “primary focus along the Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana coast will remain search and rescue as long as necessary”. It has set up a Web site where people who are still in need of rescue, or for those who know of someone in need, can submit information at http://homeport.uscg.mil. It adds: “More than 2,580 people have been rescued off of rooftops and flooded neighbourhoods since rescue operations began Monday, and joint-agency rescue operations are continuing through the day and night.”

However surveys of the damage to the region’s waterways system are now underway. The USCG reports that the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Louisiana, Red River, Atchafalya, and Ouatchita Rivers has been opened in some areas. More than 100 barges have reportedly sunk, or are aground south of New Orleans, and the majority of buoys and other kinds of navigational markers are off station throughout the Gulf Coast

mgn

[proud_ionian]

η συνεχεια

Ports of New Orleans, Gulfport, Pascagoula, and Destin/Panama City are closed. The ports of Pensacola and Mobile are open only to vessels with a 12-foot draft or less.

The Intracoastal Waterway is open from the Mobile Ship Channel east to Apalachicola, Fla., and closed from the Mobile Ship Channel west to Pass Christian, Miss.

The Mississippi River is closed to deep draft traffic and open to tug and barge traffic only from Sea Buoy to Mile Marker 507. Deep draft vessels may move within anchorages if they have pilots on board.

The Red River is open from Carr Point, La. to Alexandria, La. The Athchafalya River is open from Eugene Island Sea Buoy to Krotz Springs. The Port Allen Route is open from Baton Rouge to the Port Allen Lock. The Ouachita/Black River is open from Jonesville to Shreveport. The railroad Bridge across Delcambre Canal is open. Vessels may transit Louisiana Highway in Delcambre.