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BY ZACHARY FITZGERALD

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Malte B, a 300-foot ship based in Antigua and Barbados, arrived Wednesday at the Port of Morgan City to export 2,500 tons of rice to Haiti. The trip is the 19th that an import-export ship has made to the Port of Morgan City since August 2014.

For the 19th time in a year, an import-export ship made its way into the Port of Morgan City Wednesday afternoon, but port officials say ships could be making at least weekly trips to the port if adequate funds were available to dredge the waterways. A 300-foot-long ship named Malte B made its first voyage Wednesday to the Port of Morgan City. The Oslo Bulk 9, a 360-foot import-export ship, had made previous visits to the port. The Malte B is based in Antigua and Barbados with a Russian and Filipino crew, Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said. The ship is exporting 2,500 tons of rice for Planters Rice Mill of Abbeville to Haiti, Wade said. Rice trucks began arriving July 31 at the Port of Morgan City in preparation of the ship’s arrival. About 150 truckloads of rice made it to the port, he said. Wade expected the ship to leave the port sometime today. The last time an import-export ship came to Morgan City was in early May when the Oslo Bulk 9 shipped 3,500 tons of rice to Haiti.

Channel 3 KATC news report on new operations center.

BY ZACHARY FITZGERALD

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Darren Wright, physical oceanographic real-time system program
manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
speaks Monday about the two new stations recently installed
in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel.

As of Monday, mariners now have access to more real-time weather and waterway information in the Atchafalaya River to assist them in their navigation efforts and decision making. Two Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System stations, which were recently installed near the Eugene Island Lighthouse and about two miles south of Eugene Island in the Atchafalaya River Bar Channel, became operational Monday, according to officials. The Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District Commission met Monday at the Port of Morgan City. The stations were paid for by $550,000 in 2011 port security grant funding. Eugene Island Lighthouse is about 25 miles south of the Port of Morgan City. The system consists of four stations including the two newly-installed and two more stations in Berwick and Amerada Pass, Darren Wright, PORTS program manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. The two older stations have been in place for six years and two years,respectively. Amerada Pass is located four to five miles north of Eugene Island. “Now we’ve got coverage all the way for our entire channel,” Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said. The systems are a network of oceanographic and geological sensors located near ports to provide mariners with information to help them navigate safely and efficiently, Wright said. The information the systems provide includes observed and predicted water levels, river current, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, and air and water temperature, Wright said. NOAA partnered with the Port of Morgan City, which acted as the project sponsor, to install the systems. NOAA provides the program management, data collection, infrastructure dissemination and the quality control on a 24/7 basis, Wright said. The Port of Morgan City’s real-time system is the 24th such system implemented around the country, Wright said. NOAA officials studied the impact of the systems’ economic benefits, which showed a 59 percent reduction in vessel groundings and 21 percent reduction in oil spills just by knowing the up-to-date info, Wright said. Data from the real-time systems can be accessed by visiting tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/port s/index.html? ort=mc. The mobile link is mobile.tidesandcurrents. noaa.gov/ports/mobile.sht ml?port=mc. People can also call 888-312-4113 to access the data.

Published by Daily Review May 12, 2015

By: Tegan Wendland, Reporter

Two major Louisiana shipping hubs will see improvements this week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New sensor systems will make navigation safer and allow for more efficient ship traffic at the Port of Morgan City and the Port of Fourchon.

(NOAA)

The Physical Oceanographic Real Time System, or PORTS, was created by NOAA and uses oceanographic and meteorological sensors to provide mariners with accurate real-time information on the environment at seaports. NOAA is working with individual ports to design the systems.

In a statement on its website, NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services director said, “Even one additional foot of draft can substantially increase the profit of a shipment.”

Morgan City is a hub for import-export ships. According to NOAA, Port Fourchon services 90 percent of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry and handles more than 20 percent of the enation’s energy supply. They are the 24^th and 25^th ports in the nation to receive the technology.

Port of Morgan City executive director Raymond Wade praised NOAA and the new technology, saying it would improve overall safety.

Published By

05/11/15

The Oslo Bulk 9, a 360-foot cargo ship, arrived Monday at the Port of Morgan City
to export 3,500 tons of rice to Haiti for Planters Rice Mill in Abbeville. On Tuesday,
workers were loading rice onto the ship from barges. Port Director Raymond “Mac”
Wade expects the ship to leave the port tonight.
Published by Daily Review 5/6/15