Contents

Board Christens 50Foot River Patrol Vessel

Tugs Ted and GeorgeJoin The Port of LakeCharles

Hurricane Plans

With PORTS®, ShipClears Bridge - TwoFeet to Spare

Captain Brown JoinsNOBRA Board

A Message From YourChairman

Seaboard MarineEmploys Larger Ship InService

NOAA Survey

Deer Season

Quote of the Month

Louisiana River PilotsAssociation104 Abadie LaneCovington, LA 70433Phone 985 249.5226Fax 985 249.5228edpeterson@bellsouth.netwww.lrpa.com

To submit articles for theLRPA monthly newsletter,please emailedpeterson@bellsouth.netcolebama@charter.net

September 2009

Board Christens 50 Foot River Patrol Vessel

River Patrol Vessel To Add New Security Layer To Mississippi River

The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans christened the Capt. KennethH. Scarbrough, a 50-foot river patrol vessel on July 16.

Constructed by Monticello,Ark.-based SeaArk MarineCompany, the vessel is capableof high-speed rescue andresponse, reaching a top speedof 40 knots. The vessel’sprimary function is to providewaterside patrols and monitorwaterside access to Portfacilities, which is required in thefederal Marine TransportationSafety Act. Other uses includedeterrence, interdiction, andcommand and control missions.

“The Capt. Scarbrough is truly a state-of-the-art river patrol vessel,” said GaryLaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. “This vessel will serve toprovide an additional layer of homeland security protection to our nation’s vital LowerMississippi River.”

The vessel is named after the late Crescent River Pilot Kenneth H. Scarbrough, whosacrificed his life on April 6, 1969, trying to preserve the M/V Union Faith, which caughtfire and sank in the Mississippi River.

“Captain Scarbrough sacrificed his life to protect the Port of New Orleans and theCity. By bravely facing death, he was able to use his skill as a mariner to ensure that theUnion Faith was firmly anchored in the river, where the fire posed no damage to otherships, port facilities or the city of New Orleans,” said Capt. A.J. Gibbs, President of theCrescent River Port Pilots and Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Port ofNew Orleans.

The vessel’s sponsor is Kimberly S. Lawrence, the daughter of Capt. Scarbrough,who was five years old when her father died in the blaze. She was joined by her brother,Kenneth, and other members of the Scarbrough family to dedicate the vessel.

A Department of Homeland Security Round 5 grant of $1.65 million received inSeptember of 2005 paid for the $1.1 million vessel, along with a Mobile CommandCenter the Board received in July of 2008.

Five Harbor Police Department officers trained by the U.S. Federal Boat TrainingCenter in Glenco, Ga., and at Houston Marine Training Services in Metairie, La., willman the vessel.

Additionally, the officers received more than 120 hours of on-the-water training providedby the Crescent River Port Pilots and the U.S. Coast Guard.

September 2009 Page 2

Tugs Ted and George Join The Port of Lake Charles Hurricane PlansThe Port of Lake Charles has two key additions that will roam in the Calcasieu Ship

channel. Tractor tugs Ted and George were christened on July 31 at the Isle of CapriCasino docks.

“They’re the most maneuverable boats they have out there now. They are much morecapable boats than the older type of tug boats that we’ve operated in the past,” saidDwayne Chatoney, Vice President and General Manager of Harbor Docking and TowingCompany.

“These tug boats were built to the latest technology. They have all the bells and whistlesand they should serve the port of Lake Charles for many, many years to come,” saidHarbor Docking and Towing President, Andy Brauninger.

Harbor Docking and Towing implemented the tractor tug project fours years ago.Their purpose was to have Ted and George built with the latest technology to conqueranything on the water.

“They can handle any size ship that’s capable of coming into the port and can arrestthat ship in an escort mode,” said Chatoney.

“The whole wheel on those tugs turns three hundred and sixty degrees, which makesthe tugs extremely maneuverable, and they get into position alongside a ship very quickly,”said Brauninger.

“These boats have an incredible amount of maneuverability and technology that isstate of the art,” said Kay Barnett, President of the Lake Charles Port Commission.

Tugs Ted and George will be in service twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,assisting every type of sea vessel.They plan to have a huge impacton the port of Lake Charles.

“Because of the capability ofthese tugs, the port will now beable to successfully generateadditional business, bringing inlarger ships because the port hasthe capability to handle theincreased traffic,” said Brauninger.

“We’re the eleventh largest portin the nation and we’re going to seean increase in traffic. This is goingto help keep that traffic moving ontime and on schedule,” saidChatoney.

With the increase of traffic, TugsTed and George will have a brightfuture on the Calcasieu ShipChannel for many years to come.

(Copyright 2009 KPLC-TV. Allrights Reserved. Article by CharlesBartlett.) Dayna Mowbray and Joyce Miller pictured christening

tractor tugs George and Ted.

Dennis L. Bryant retiredfrom the US Coast Guardwith the rank of Captain after27 years active duty. Heserved on the icebreakerNORTHWIND in 1969when it escorted the tankerMANHATTAN through theNorthwest Passage (thiswas back in the old days,when there was real ice inthe Arctic). He had varioustours as a law specialist,including an assignment asthe Coast Guard’s Law ofthe Sea officer. He alsoserved a tour in the Officeof International Affairs andfinished his careersupervising the staffcharged with implementingthe Oil Pollution Act of 1990(OPA 90).

Most US Coast GuardSectors have promulgatedhurricane contingencyplans or heavy weathercontingency plans, intendedto provide guidance to themaritime community withregard to preparing for andminimizing disruptioncaused by severe weatherconditions, taking intoaccount differentgeographic and operationalcharacteristics in eachlocale.

(continued page 3)

September 2009 Page 3

With PORTS®, Ship Clears Bridge - Two Feet to Spare NOAA SurveyWhen a new Navy ship, the USS New York, required safe passage from the Avondale

Shipyard on the west bank of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico for a month of seatrials at the end of June, it relied on new NOAA technology at one critical juncture.

Luckily, NOAA’s PORTS® (Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System) — which col-lects and disseminates data regarding water levels, currents, salinity, and meteorologicalparameters critical to safe navigation in the nation’s busiest ports and waterways — was inplace on the Huey Long Bridge, in the Lower Mississippi River, at just the right time.

The Lower Mississippi River PORTS®, to be fully functional by this fall, consists of twowater current meters, a water level gauge and air-gap sensors on both the Huey Long andCrescent Connection bridges. Specialized air-gap technology measures the bridge’s clear-ance — the distance between the bottom of the bridge and the surface of the water flowingunderneath.

Northrop Grumman, the ship’s manufacturer, needed the sensor data to make sure theship could clear the bridge on its way out to the Gulf.

The USS New York would also have the benefit of NOAA’s electronic navigation charts(ENC) for the Mississippi River, recently updated, which river pilots use to navigate ships upand down the river.

After integrating and analyzing all of the necessary water and current data, the NationalWeather Service River Forecast Office, CO-OPS, the U.S. Coast Guard, Northrop Grumman,the Navy and local port authorities determined that Saturday morning, June 27, would be thebest time for the ship to attempt passage under the bridge.

Initial calculations suggested the ship would clear the Huey Long bridge by about 18 inches.Given roughly 140 feet of clearance under the bridge, this meant the ship would occupyabout 99.2 percent of the available space as it passed underneath.

At 3 a.m. Saturday, after a final round of sensor checks, NOAA signaled that the USS NewYork would clear. At 6 a.m., it set sail under tugboat guidance for the middle of the channel.

NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceano-graphic Products and Services (CO-OPS)Director Mike Szabados and PORTS®Director Darren Wright were standing onthe bridge of the ship when, at 6:51 a.m.,its two mast towers slipped under the HueyLong by a slim margin of only 2.1 feet. Onlythen did they all breathe a collective sighof relief.

Article and Photo credit: Tim Osborn,NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey.

(continued from page 2)You will find links to

various such plans that Ihave been able to locate byvisiting www.brymar-consulting.com. Sectors notincluded on this list may wellhave issued plans that Ihave yet to locate andretrieve. Sectors may alsohave issued updatedversions of plans thatsupersede the ones on thislist. Please notify me if youare aware of new or updatedplans that should be on thislist.

Hurricane Plans

You have a stake and apivotal role to play in shapingthe agency’s mission,vision, and goals. ThroughSeptember 11, 2009, NOAAis soliciting your thoughtsand ideas in the form of ashort survey accessible at:www.noaa.gov/ngsp. Weencourage you to participatein this survey and contributeto NOAA’s long-termstrategic plan. Please sharethis message withmembers of yourorganization and help chartNOAA’s future.

Deer Season

Deer hunting season2009-10 schedule may befound at this LouisianaWildlife and Fisheries linkwww.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting/seasons/deer/.

The New Orleans and Baton Rouge Steamship PilotsAssociation recently welcomed a new member to their Boardof Directors. Capt. W. Brad Brown III joined the NOBRA Boardas Secretary-Treasurer.

Captain Brown was commissioned as a NOBRA Pilot onMay 1, 2003.

Captain Brown Joins NOBRA Board

September 2009 Page 4

Quote of theMonth

Seaboard

A Message From Your Chairman

Seaboard Marine Employs Larger Ship In Service

It’s hard to believe that we are on the eve of the fourth anniversary ofthe Hurricane Katrina nightmare. Much as we all remember wherewe were on November 22nd, 1963 (age permitting) and September11th, 2001, literally all inhabitants of Southeastern Louisiana andSouthern Mississippi will never forget exactly where they rode out thestorm on August 29th, 2005.

As Mariners, we all still reminisce on occasion as to the frenziedefforts to restore deepwater navigation on the Mississippi River alongwith shallow draft transits on the Intracoastal Waterway. Without

singling out any of the hundreds of unsung heroes who literally went for days without sleepor hot meals throughout this period, it just seems proper that we do acknowledge the factthat the Katrina and Rita experiences provided an educational background for future disasterprocedures to the entire Gulf South Maritime community.

Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Louisiana RiverPilots Association, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, all of the PortAuthorities, both large Maritime Agency associations, the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association,the National Weather Bureau, the Maritime Administration, and so many private maritimerelated companies too numerous to list, we were able to set up lines of communication,housing, transportation, and sustenance for emergency workers which led to anunprecedented, timely restoration of aids to navigation and full maritime commerce in amatter of days.

All of us have taken these lessons to heart. We are so much better at emergencypreparedness at this point in time than we were in late August of 2005. The response toGustav and Ike last year, as well as the oil spill at the Mississippi River Bridge created in theMel Oliver incident all lend testimony to the fact that we are now so much quicker to react toimpending and or unforeseen catastrophes.

— an old answer to anold question

How long have you beena sailor ?

All my bloomin’ life.Me mother was a

mermaid.Me father was King

Neptune.I was born on the crest

of a waveAnd rock the cradle of

the deep.Seaweed and barnacles

are me clothes,The hair on me head is

hemp,Every bone in me body’s

a spar,And when I spit, I spit

tar.I’se hard, I is, I am, I are.

Increased demand led Miami-based Seaboard Marine toemploy a larger ship in its weekly Port of New Orleanscontainer service with Latin America.

Seaboard’s 974-TEU Seaboard Caribe replaced the 640-TEU Heinrich J. The vessel willcall the Port’s Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. Seaboard vessels call on the Port eachWednesday. Other port calls for the service includes St. Tomas, Guatemala, and PuertoCortes, Honduras, with inland service to Managua, Nicaragua, and San Salvador, El Salvador.

In 2008, Seaboard moved more than 33,000 TEUs through the Port of New Orleans.

“Seaboard Marine’s expansion of service to New Orleans is great news for the entiremaritime community,” said Gary LaGrange, President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans.“During these difficult economic times, it demonstrates strong businesses can continue togrow services and expand market share. We applaud Seaboard for their commitment to theCrescent City.”

The larger vessel will allow Seaboard to offer a broader range of services, company officialssaid.

“The New Orleans market continues to show strong potential to Central America,” saidSeaboard Marine President Edward Gonzales. “Employing the Seaboard Caribe, which hasmore than 50 percent greater capacity than the vessel it replaced, should allow us to broadenthe amounts and types of cargoes carried.”

(continued next column)

(continued)Seaboard Marine is an

ocean transportationcompany that providesdirect, regular servicebetween the United Statesand the Caribbean Basin,Central and South America.The Miami-based companyhas 40 vessels in its fleet.

The Port of New Orleansis at the center of the world’sbusiest port complex –Louisiana’s LowerMississippi River. Its proximityto the American Midwest viaa 14,500-mile inlandwaterway system, six ClassOne railroads and theinterstate highway systemmakes New Orleans the portof choice for the movementof cargoes such as steel,rubber, coffee, containersand manufactured goods.