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 Daily Port Update

Subject:SOUTH CAROLINA DAILY PORT UPDATE
Date:Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Priority:Normal
Notice:URGENT INFORMATION: NONE

----------------

PORT LIMITS/INFORMATION
------------------------
Maximum Depths - (Fresh)
Harbor Entrance - 47.0 ft
Main Channel - 45.0 ft

BERTH LIMITS/INFORMATION:
-------------------------
Current maximum drafts allowed at berths:

Amerada Hess - Max draft of 38'00 if LOA is less than 650'; Max draft of
36'00 if LOA is 650'00 or greater Kinder Morgan - berth 1 - 40'00 Kinder
Morgan - berth 2 - 40'00 Kinder Morgan - berth 3 - TBA berth 4 - Max
draft 39'00, tide needed for anything deeper than 36'00 BP - TBA Wando
Terminal - Max draft 46'00 - Max BM 187'00 North Charleston Terminal -
Max 42'00 - Max BM 187'00 CST - Max draft 47'00 - Max BM 187'00

Per pilots - restrictions for Tanker movements:
Drafts of 36'00 or less may transit at anytime Drafts of 36'01 to 40'00 -
window: Start in 1 Hour before low water until
2 hours before high water
Drafts of 40'01 to 41'00 - window: start in 2 hours after low water until
2 hours before high water
Drafts of 41'01 to 42'00 - window: start in 3 hours after low water until
3 hours before high water

VESSEL TRAFFIC:
---------------

KM4 - EASTERN POWER - EST IN 1515/17TH
BP - TUG INTEGRITY AND 650-4 - EST IN 1800/17TH

=============================================
FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL FILING REQUIREMENTS:
---------------------------------------------
96 Hours - advance notice of arrival required by USCG

48 Hours - advance receipt of crew list by Immigration for any vessel
arriving from a foreign port, or arriving coast wise with detained crew.

24 Hours (minimum) - Foreign cargo must have manifest submitted to
Customs & Border Patrol AMS. Bond must be filed for Foreign flag vessels
or U.S. flag arriving with foreign cargo aboard.

24 Hours - advance notice to Pilots

24 Hours - advance fax of crew list and approved visitors required by
Terminal.

72 Hours - post port call, the Port Authority requires bill of lading
figures for all bulk cargo.

Port Security - All persons doing business within Port Authority property
must have security pass from SCPA.

=========================================

NEWS ARTICLES:

VIDEO LINK TO STORY

http://www.charleston.net/videos/2008/sep/17/597/

Whales vs. ships

Charleston's harbor pilots say requirement to cut speed would be almost
punitive
By Bo Petersen (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The seas are up and roiling, pitching the harbor pilot boat sideways as
it motors in the wake of a huge bulk transport ship.

The swells look like the humps of whales.

All you can see through the port window of the 75-foot-long pilot boat is
the steel flank of the mammoth 200-yard-long ship. But the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is about to force the smaller
boat, and the ship, to slow down during the winter to protect the nearly
extinct right whale.

The right whale is a legend of the Atlantic, a huge, 40-ton creature that
whalers nearly wiped out in the 19th century. Fewer than 400 are known to
exist, a number so perilously low that researchers consider every living
right whale vital to the survival of the species.

The whales summer in food-rich waters off New England and calve in warm
winter waters off the Southeast near Florida. Nearly 40 were spotted in
21 survey flights over South Carolina coastal waters last winter,
according to Wildlife Trust. At least nine were considered to have spent
the winter here.

Ship strikes are considered one of the leading causes of right whale
deaths.

NOAA is expected to rule in early October that ships longer

than 65 feet must slow down to 10 knots (11 1/2 mph) within 23 miles of
the coastline along the whales' migration route. That's about half-speed
for containerships. The cost in lost time is estimated in the millions of
dollars per year for Charleston ports, analysts say.

"Studies have shown whales are oblivious to passing vessels," said Jackie
Savitz, senior scientist for Oceana, an environmental advocate. "They
don't go the right way or get out of the way fast enough. They can't stop
when they're surfacing because they become buoyant to surface." Slowing
down is not that costly to shipping, she said. "A lot of the time vessels
adjust their times to get in and out of port anyway."

The Charleston ports community roundly opposes the rule. Charleston
harbor pilots, though, consider it almost punitive.

Their boats would be the only ones on the East Coast forced to slow down,
pilots said; they're longer than others because they ride as far as 15
miles out from the jetties at the harbor mouth in big seas to drop off
and pick up pilots on ladders swinging from the hulls of the ships.
They're seeking a waiver to be excluded from the rule.

"I've been going out of here on a pilot boat to the (15 miles out) sea
buoys and back since 1969," said Bill Elliott, the pilot steering the
bulk transport ship out of harbor, before he scrambled up a rocking rope
ladder to the big ship. "You used to see one right whale every two or
three years. I probably see five or six a year now."

But there's never been a reported whale strike in the shipping channel
into Charleston, he and others said. NOAA says that, on average, two
whales per year die from ship strikes; the last reported propeller strike
deaths in the Atlantic basin were four in 2006. None were in Charleston.
The pilots think the precautions already in place, such as alerting ships
to nearby whales, are enough.

The measures in place have been successful for 34 years," said John
Cameron, a former U.S. Coast Guard station commander who is a staff
consultant for the pilots.



=====================================================

FUTURE/ONGOING ISSUES:

09/17 - 0800 - MARITIME ASSOC OF SC BOARD MEETING
09/17 - 1800 - PROPELLOR CLUB DINNER
10/08 - 1800 - CWIT OYSTER ROAST
10/30 - 1799 - PROPELLOR CLUB 75TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY
2013 - PROPOSED TIME FRAME FOR NEW PORT TERMINAL TO BE COMPLETED


CURRENT ISSUES - NONE

-----------------------------------------------

CURRENT HURRICANE ALERT STATUS - 4

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
800 AM EDT WED SEP 17 2008

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...

TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

$$
FORECASTER FRANKLIN

==========================================

SEAPORT SECURITY ALERT CURRENTLY AT YELLOW/ELEVEATED - MARSEC 1

============================================

Tides for Charleston (Customhouse Wharf) starting with September 9, 2008.
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

W 17 Low 3:39 AM -0.1 7:05 AM Set 9:25 AM 97
17 High 9:45 AM 6.5 7:23 PM Rise 8:33 PM
17 Low 4:10 PM 0.3
17 High 10:09 PM 5.9

Th 18 Low 4:22 AM -0.1 7:06 AM Set 10:35 AM 92
18 High 10:32 AM 6.5 7:21 PM Rise 9:11 PM
18 Low 5:00 PM 0.4
18 High 10:55 PM 5.6

F 19 Low 5:09 AM 0.0 7:06 AM Set 11:45 AM 84
19 High 11:23 AM 6.5 7:20 PM Rise 9:57 PM
19 Low 5:54 PM 0.7
19 High 11:46 PM 5.4

Sa 20 Low 6:00 AM 0.1 7:07 AM Set 12:55 PM 75
20 High 12:20 PM 6.4 7:19 PM Rise 10:50 PM
20 Low 6:53 PM 0.9

Su 21 High 12:44 AM 5.2 7:08 AM Set 2:01 PM 65
21 Low 6:58 AM 0.3 7:17 PM Rise 11:52 PM
21 High 1:24 PM 6.2
21 Low 7:57 PM 1.1

M 22 High 1:50 AM 5.1 7:08 AM Set 3:00 PM 53
22 Low 8:01 AM 0.5 7:16 PM
22 High 2:33 PM 6.1
22 Low 9:04 PM 1.1

Tu 23 High 3:00 AM 5.1 7:09 AM Rise 12:59 AM 42
23 Low 9:09 AM 0.5 7:15 PM Set 3:50 PM
23 High 3:42 PM 6.1
23 Low 10:09 PM 1.0

W 24 High 4:10 AM 5.2 7:10 AM Rise 2:08 AM 31
24 Low 10:16 AM 0.5 7:13 PM Set 4:32 PM
24 High 4:46 PM 6.2
24 Low 11:10 PM 0.8

Th 25 High 5:14 AM 5.5 7:10 AM Rise 3:16 AM 21
25 Low 11:20 AM 0.3 7:12 PM Set 5:08 PM
25 High 5:44 PM 6.3

F 26 Low 12:04 AM 0.6 7:11 AM Rise 4:22 AM 13
26 High 6:12 AM 5.8 7:11 PM Set 5:40 PM
26 Low 12:17 PM 0.2
26 High 6:36 PM 6.3

Sa 27 Low 12:53 AM 0.4 7:12 AM Rise 5:25 AM 6
27 High 7:04 AM 6.0 7:09 PM Set 6:08 PM
27 Low 1:10 PM 0.1
27 High 7:22 PM 6.3

Su 28 Low 1:38 AM 0.2 7:12 AM Rise 6:27 AM 2
28 High 7:52 AM 6.3 7:08 PM Set 6:36 PM
28 Low 2:00 PM 0.1
28 High 8:05 PM 6.2

M 29 Low 2:20 AM 0.2 7:13 AM Rise 7:27 AM 0
29 High 8:36 AM 6.4 7:07 PM Set 7:04 PM
29 Low 2:46 PM 0.2
29 High 8:46 PM 6.0

Tu 30 Low 2:59 AM 0.2 7:14 AM Rise 8:28 AM 0
30 High 9:17 AM 6.4 7:05 PM Set 7:34 PM
30 Low 3:30 PM 0.4
30 High 9:25 PM 5.8

===========================================
MARINE WEATHER:

Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near
80. North wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a slight
chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 66. North wind around 9 mph.
Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Notice posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Disclaimer
For quality assurance purposes please note well that while the above information is regularly vetted for accuracy it is not intended to replace the local knowledge or expertise pertaining to port conditions of our marine operations personnel. Port précis should always be verified by contacting the corresponding marine department of a particular location for the most up-to-date information.