Posted on February 15, 2016
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com
The shipping industry is likely losing millions of dollars a day in lost cargo space aboard ocean-going vessels attempting to enter and exit the sediment-clogged mouth of the Mississippi River, in part because the Army Corps of Engineers has had a hard time enticing private industry companies to dredge Southwest Pass, industry officials said Wednesday.
Since Jan. 30, the Associated Branch Pilots and the Associated Federal Pilots, who guide ships from the Gulf of Mexico into the lower river and the Port of New Orleans, have recommended that ships with drafts of greater than 41 feet not enter the Southwest Pass for fear of running aground or causing damage to the ships.
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