Port of New Orleans Damaged But Still Workable

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi River is now officially open to ships with a draft of 35 feet during daylight hours. The river is open to one direction at a time.

Now that a route has been re-established to the Port of New Orleans and other ports on the lower Mississippi River, the port is bringing together all of the pieces that will allow it to be a major force in the reconstruction of New Orleans.

"The Port of New Orleans' riverfront terminals survived Hurricane Katrina in fairly decent shape," said Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange. "Although they are damaged, they are still workable once electrical power and manpower is available."

"In the next several weeks, almost all of the Port of New Orleans will be dedicated to military relief vessels. In the next week to two weeks, commercial vessels will return once electrical power and manpower arrive," LaGrange said

He added that many repairs will be needed though to bring the Port back to full capacity. Cargo containers have been tossed around at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal and the Nashville Avenue Complex and remain strewn about.

Two gantry cranes at the Napoleon and Nashville Avenue Complexes are expected to have damage to electronic components. The other two gantry cranes at Napoleon/Nashville are expected to work once they have electric power. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) is working to supply the cranes with power through huge generators.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, about 15 ships passed by the Port of New Orleans on their way to upriver ports such as the Port of South Louisiana and the Port of Baton Rouge. All three river pilot groups on the lower Mississippi River recommend opening the river to two-way traffic.

The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO), an alternate route for the Mississippi River, is open to 9 feet of draft. It could be opened to 27 feet of draft once debris is removed from the channel. The conditions of the terminals along the MRGO and the Industrial Canal are unknown except that they have no electrical power and they are severely flooded.

Re-establishing a Headquarters
Three senior staff members of the Port of New Orleans have established a headquarters at the Port's Administrative Office Building, and other members of the senior staff are working from the remote locations they evacuated to.

Port CEO LaGrange, Executive Assistant for Port Operations Ted Knight and Operations Manager Paul Zimmermann have been on the scene in an attempt to continue port operations under some very adverse circumstances. The three senior staff members based in New Orleans have been in constant contact with MARAD and two of the Port's terminal operators -- P&O Ports and Ceres Gulf Inc. -- to commence cargo operations for humanitarian aid and commercial cargo by the end of the week.

A portion of the Port Headquarters building systems is running on emergency generator power. The Port is housing the Louisiana State Police SWAT team's operations center on its first floor.

Supplying Labor and Power
P&O Ports and Ceres Gulf Inc have mobilized work crews in Texas. At the request of the Port of New Orleans, these work crews are available to load and unload ships at the Port of New Orleans pending the arrival of vessels. They could be at the terminal within two or three days.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration is following up on a request by the Port of New Orleans for help. They are providing several ships with the capacity to temporarily house 1,000 people who will operate the port.

Those 1,000 people will be either essential Port of New Orleans employees or crews working ships at the Port of New Orleans. Some of the ships will be outfitted with generators needed to supply the power needed for port operations.

"We are thankful to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and his staff for helping to get us what we need to get our port up and running as soon as possible," said LaGrange.

Helping Employees
Port Chief Operating Officer Dave Wagner has established temporary administrative offices in Atlanta with the help of the Port's Board Chairman John Kallenborn of Chase Morgan. They have established ways for staff payroll to be distributed as usual.

Some staff members have been notified by the Port's Emergency Hotline to make contact with the Port for payroll information and to establish communications. Because of the quick approach of Katrina, many staff members may not have the emergency hotline. The Port of New Orleans is asking the media to publish the number, 1-866-476-7866, so that we can re-establish communications with our employees in order to aid our return to full operations.

Numerous staff members lost homes and incurred damages. The Port will address immediate needs of the staff through a temporary account opened in Atlanta. The Port should have the ability to wire money to employees who need it on Tuesday, with those amounts deducted from future paychecks.

Some port senior staff should start arriving this week as needed, followed by a phased in arrival of other staff as needed. Those key staff members choosing not to return for serious and legitimate reasons can continue to work from their remote locations with the permission of the CEO.

Facing Challenges
Although the Port is making tremendous progress in getting back on its feet, it continues to face many challenges, including fires.

Mandeville, Piety and possibly Esplanade Street Wharves have been damaged by fire. The fire started off port property at a produce warehouse when propane tanks exploded. The fire was battled from the river by the General Roy Kelley, the Port's fireboat; Crescent River Tugboats; and two vessels owned by the Port of South Louisiana, the John James Charles and the Accardo.

"Propane exploding in the air like bombs touched off fires as far as a half-mile away," LaGrange said.

The only way to fight the fire was to use firefighting vessels. Fire trucks responded to the emergency, but didn't have ability to pump water.

Just after midnight early Sunday morning, the fire at the Mandeville Street Wharf started to emerge again. The team of fireboats and tugs were once again able to bring the fire under control, preventing the fire from spreading from the wharves into the French Quarter. However, the crews of the boats are extremely taxed because they have been working around the clock.

The Harbor Police, the Port of New Orleans' police force, is working with about 15 officers who are very fatigued. A Harbor Police vehicle was struck by a hit-and-run driver and a Harbor Policeman had to be treated at a hospital.

Seeking Help and a Competitive Edge
From Texas, Pat Gallwey, the Port's Executive Assistant for Administration, is coordinating the needs of the Port with Congressional leaders, FEMA and other federal agencies.

Port customers will be contacted by the Port of New Orleans' New York office and by Marketing Manager Bobby Landry once he returns to New Orleans early this week. The port will express its desire to partner with our customers during this difficult time to ask them for their support in helping to rebuild the Port.

At 10 a.m. Monday, there will be a meeting in the Port Administration Building by the three pilot groups on the Lower Mississippi River, Port staff and any member of the maritime community to discuss rebuilding the port and making it more cost effective for customers.

"We must find ways to get out the word that we have port infrastructure in place, but we will become bigger, better and more competitive than ever," LaGrange said.

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09/04/05

Initial Port Assessment Hurricane Katrina

We took a tour of accessible facilities via land yesterday, Monday, August 29th from approximately 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm and again this morning via water, Tuesday, August 30th, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Here is a brief assessment of the situation of the facilities we were able to visit. At this time, we are not in a position to advise the dollar amount to effect repairs. All cargoes in the transit sheds should be inspected at a later time to determine the exact damage and any damage to cargoes caused by water.

Henry Clay Wharf – Heavy damage to roller doors and skylights. Wharf is dry, no flooding. Draft alongside ranged between 36 feet to 38 feet.

Nashville A Wharf – Moderate damage to siding, on the end of the shed, and roller doors. The Fantuzzi mobile Harbor Crane with P & O, looks to be in "operational shape" but would need to be inspected. Draft alongside was better than 39 feet.

Nashville B Wharf – Moderate damage to siding on shed and roller doors, sections of roof missing. Draft alongside between 39 feet to 48 feet.

Napoleon Container Terminal – Numerous stacked containers were "pancaked" in the yard. Our guess is around 100 units and that most were empties. One container had fallen from the stack onto the train adjacent to the facility. A small number of containers on the ground were in approximately 2 feet of water, any cargoes inside would be effected. All 4 port gantry cranes were secured and intact. The two newer cranes though had lost the sides of the cabs where the computer hardware is located. This will advised when technicians can service the equipment. One of the cranes had a container next to the base of the crane. This had fallen from a stack of containers in the back reach of the crane. Also the Zim Ship had left the wharf during the storm and proceeded to anchor (both port and starboard) just off the wharf. Draft alongside was between 46 feet to 51 feet.

Napoleon C Wharf and Milan Street Wharf – The roller doors experienced heavy damage. The draft alongside ranged from 35 feet to 38 feet.

Louisiana Street Wharf – Roller doors appeared to be in good shape, but the new roof had lost sections. The draft alongside ranged from 40 feet to 45 feet.

Harmony Street Wharf – The roof had lost sections. The draft alongside ranged from 36 to 38 feet.

7th Street Wharf – Skylights were missing from the roof, and moderate to heavy damage to the roller doors. The draft ranged between 37 feet to 39 feet.

1st Street Wharf – Heavy damage to the roof and roller doors. Adjacent to the Wharf the Jackson Street Ferry Landing had also experienced major damage. The draft ranged between 38 feet to 44 feet alongside.

Erato Street Wharf – Wharf incurred heavy damage due to a Bollinger Drydock which was adrift from its mooring on the west bank. The drydock moved up the river, impacting the wharf, but missing the Crescent City Connection Bridge. The drydock then became lodged on the west bank across from the Robin Street Wharf.

Julia Street Cruise Terminal – The roof had sections missing. All windows at the terminal appeared to be intact. The new passenger jet way appeared intact as well but will need to be inspected. The auxiliary jet way appeared intact with the canopy still attached. The draft alongside was between 31 feet to 36 feet.

Governor Nicholas Street Wharf – The transit shed had moderate damage to the side panels and roller doors. Draft alongside was sufficient. We were not able to sound with the M/V General Kelly due to a bulk ship being there in a lay berth status.

Esplande Street Wharf - Heavy damage to the siding and the roof. We did not sound alongside due to the vessel in the lay berth.

Pauline Street Wharf – We include the Pauline Street Wharf due to the vessel in the lay berth, the M/V Chios Beauty, lines parted setting it adrift. Vessel is now located on the west bank, having impacted with the Cooper Tug Barge and lodging itself against the barge and at least one tug. We observed two Cooper Tugs trying to dislodge the vessel from the west bank.

Poland Street Wharf – Appeared intact with moderate damage, we did not sound in this area. The "nested" MARAD ships appeared intact.

Alabo Street Wharf – Moderate damage to the skylights and doors. Draft alongside was OK. We did not sound due to a vessel at the berth.

France Road Wharf and Jourdan Street Wharf – We were not able to access these facilities due to flooding in the area. We will advise the status in the near future. It should be noted that electricity has been lost and Jourdan Street Wharf, used to export frozen poultry, and is now without refrigeration.

Summary – Our wharves appear to be, for the most part, intact and able to conduct cargo operations. The transit sheds incurred damage, but could be used while we make repairs. Issues concerning cargo operations would be procuring labor to work the vessels (a lot of the labor most likely incurred heavy damage to their homes or evacuated out of town), distribution of cargoes due to highway connectors being damaged (I-10 twin spans had sections lost and connectors in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are under water) and initially used for recovery operations, and the ability of the river to receive vessels specifically at the southwest pass and the MRGO. Presently river traffic is limited to tugs, barges, off shore vessels relocating and recovery boats. We must wait now for sounding to be performed by the pilot's organizations and the Army Corp of Engineers. In addition, we need to analyze the Cruise Operation. Right now the Louis Armstrong Airport is underwater and hotels ! supporting the cruise industry need to repair their facilities. We still have autos for passengers parked which incurred heavy damage. We are investigating creating a satellite office within a distance of 50 miles. Discussions have taken place with AAPA (Kurt Nagle- President) and our old friend John Jamien with MARAD, who now works for Secretary of Transportation Norman Minetta for assistance for logistical supply, operations, and medical assistance. Our next step will be to refine our inspections of our facilities and begin the process to repair them. Also we need to meet with the USCG, Army Corp of Engineers, and Pilots Organizations to reopen the river. River traffic, for now, is limited to tugs, barges, offshore vessels, and recovery boats. Follow up with state and federal financial help is beginning and will be addressed shortly as our staff is able to report back. Recommendations from MARAD will be delivered to Secretary Minetta and brought up tomorrow at a cabine! t meeting with the president tomorrow. More to follow.