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| Subject: | CHARLESTON SC DAILY PORT UPDATE | | Date: | Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | | Priority: | Normal | | Notice: | URGENT INFORMATION: CHARLESTON PILOTS REPORT SHOALING IN DANIEL ISLAND
REACH. THE SHOALING WAS CAUSED BY A PIPE FROM A DREDGE RUPTURING.
TEMPORARY TIDE RESTRICTIONS FOR VESSELS OVER 38' IN DRAFT ARE IN PLACE
UNTIL SHOALING IS RESOLVED IN APPROXIMATELY 1 WEEK. TO AVOID AREA OF
SHOALING VESSELS ARE TO ARRIVE 2 HRS BEFORE OR 2 HRS AFTER LOW WATER.
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 - 40'00
Delfin - Max Draft - 42'00
Chem Marine - Max Draft - 38'00 MLW
Kinder Morgan - berth 1 - 40'00
Kinder Morgan - berth 2 - 40'00
Kinder Morgan - berth 3 - 30'00"
Kinder Morgan - berth 4 - Max draft 39'00, tide needed for anything
deeper than 36'00 BP - Max draft 32'6" Low water / Salt Wando Terminal -
Max draft 45'00 MLW - Max BM No restriction North Charleston Terminal -
Max draft 45'00 MLW - Max BM No restriction CST - Max draft 45'00 MLW -
Max BM No restrictions Nucor - Max draft 25'00 (movements daylight &
tidal restricted), Max LOA 450', Max Beam 52'
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:
---------------------------------------------
BP - TUG RESOLVE & 650-3 - IN ETD 1200/21
KMI 4 - CHIMBORAZO - ETA 1700/21STetd 0800/21
KMI 1 - KING YUKON - IN - ETD 4/24/10
=============================================
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. All vessels must sumbit USCG's
H1N1 Flu checklist.
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. All persons wanting unescorted access
to any vessel must have a valid TWIC.
=========================================
Current Articles:
=========================================
Hearings to focus on exploration
7 companies want to conduct seismic testing of sea floor
By Bo Petersen
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
5 Comment(s)
Seven companies have already applied for permits to explore for oil and
natural gas along all or part of the Southeast coast. All of them want to
look off South Carolina.
They would detonate compressed air guns dragged behind ships, creating a
series of seismic blasts to read the "echo" beneath the sea floor. To
explore the area off South Carolina alone could cost a company some $4
million or more.
These guys mean business.
That's why two public hearings will be held in Charleston on April 27 by
the federal Minerals Management Service. The idea that potential supplies
off the coast aren't large enough to interest energy companies doesn't
mean
nobody wants to test the water. Oil companies don't usually do the early
surveys, geophysical exploration companies do. Then they sell the data
they
find.
Whether the supplies or the onshore infrastructure is large enough to make
offshore drilling profitable usually doesn't get decided until after a few
test wells have been drilled.
"You wouldn't want to preclude anything until you had a better
understanding" of the subsurface geology, said Walt Rosenbusch, vice
president of projects and issues with the International Association of
Geophysical Contractors.
That's enough to get environmentalists alarmed. The seismic blasts would
be
the latest in an intensifying din along a coast inhabited by the
critically
endangered right whale, among other species of concern.
A series of blasts from a single compressed air gun can blank out the
calls
of whales and other marine mammals over an area bigger than New Mexico,
said Michael Jasny, of the environmental advocate Natural Resources
Defense
Council. The animals call to do everything from navigating to feeding to
mating. Studies also have shown commercial fish catches drop 40 percent to
80 percent during seismic exploration, he said.
"There's an environmental impact. There's also an economic impact," he
said.
Christopher Clark, director of the Bioacoustics Research Program at
Cornell
University, has studied the effects of seismic exploration off Alaska and
ship sounds off New England. Noise levels in the Atlantic have grown 1,000
times higher in recent years, he said.
Read more about the possibility of off-shore drilling
Decision fuels fears, hopes; Some worry drilling could bring spills, ruin
for S.C. tourism, published 04/01/10
"The emphasis has been to look for 'bodies on the beach,' " essentially
stranded whales or sea life traumatized by a single event, he said. "The
chronic accumulation of all actions, little by little, erodes the health
of
the ocean. The sound has the potential to impact seals, whales, dolphins
and everything else."
The federal "scoping meetings" are two of 13 being held along the
Southeast
coast to get public comments for an environmental impact statement, a
preliminary step to deciding whether mitigation and monitoring will be
ordered to take place during the surveys. Federal regulations call for
companies to share their findings with Minerals Management Service, which
makes no bones about its interest.
"It has been more than 25 years since geological and geophysical studies
were conducted off the Atlantic coast. This data will enhance, update and
supplement information to support future MMS planning decisions for both
renewable and conventional energy development," the minerals service news
release said.
If you go
WHAT: Offshore oil and natural gas exploration public scoping meetings
WHEN: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 27
WHERE: Embassy Suites, North Charleston, 5055 International Blvd.
WHAT'S ON TAP: Public comment for an environ- mental impact statement on
exploration of the Atlantic Continental Shelf.
WHAT ELSE: Public comments also can be submitted in writing or online. The
deadline is May 17. Go to www.mms.gov and click on "Atlantic seismic EIS."
To comment, e-mail GGEIS@mms.gov or send "PEIS Scope comments" to Regional
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment Minerals Management Service, 1201
Elmwood Park Blvd., New Orleans, La. 70123-2394.
The Obama administration in March lifted a long-standing ban on new
offshore drilling. The S.C. Legislature last year gave the go-ahead for
drilling off the coast. The politically charged issue has South
Carolinians
divided on whether the potential for new energy reserves and revenue
outweighs the risks to an $18 billion tourism industry, fishing and other
interests.
Derb Carter, director of the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the
seismic blasts would disrupt marine life and that the exploration permits
would open the way for drilling. "The risk and impacts of drilling off the
South Atlantic coast are too great and conflict with both the
environmental
conditions and the economy," he said.
S.C. Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Goose Creek, who championed the state bill,
said
he hasn't seen permanent environmental consequences from seismic work in
the Gulf of Mexico. "If it's a temporary consequence, that's one thing
we've got to live with," he said.
The elephant in the room is uncertainty over just how much oil or gas
might
be out there. It's generally accepted that not a whole lot of oil lies off
South Carolina. There are two types of natural gas fields, the
commercially
extracted "drier" fields and frozen methane fields that are found off
South
Carolina, said Mitchell Colgan, College of Charleston geology professor,
who formerly worked in exploration research for Shell Oil Co.
"Nobody knows how to drill for them," he said.
Rosenbusch said new technology could belie the old data surveys that
concluded there weren't enough energy reserves off the East Coast to be
worth drilling. But Colgan said that would surprise him. The offshore
subsurface is similar to the land subsurface and that no significant
supplies have been found on land.
"With no (onshore) infrastructure in place, you'd have to have a huge oil
find out there" to make it worthwhile, he said. "I don't see it happening
here. If Shell Oil says it's interested, I would be very interested."
=========================================
CURRENT ISSUES:
04/22/10 0800 - NAV/OPS MEETING
FUTURE/ONGOING ISSUES
05/11/10 1145 - CWIT LUNCHEON MEETING
2014 - ETA FOR NEW CHARLESTON PORT TERMINAL TO BE COMPLETED
-----------------------------------------------
CURRENT SECURITY LEVEL - MARSEC 1
HURRICANE STATUS - Alert level 5/OUT OF SEASON
======================================================
Tides for Charleston (Customhouse Wharf) starting with April 21, 2010.
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
W 21 High 1:31 AM 5.7 6:43 AM Set 2:02 AM 40
21 Low 8:10 AM 0.4 7:54 PM Rise 12:42 PM
21 High 2:13 PM 4.8
21 Low 8:23 PM 0.3
Th 22 High 2:37 AM 5.6 6:42 AM Set 2:43 AM 51
22 Low 9:12 AM 0.3 7:55 PM Rise 1:50 PM
22 High 3:22 PM 5.0
22 Low 9:33 PM 0.2
F 23 High 3:43 AM 5.6 6:41 AM Set 3:20 AM 62
23 Low 10:13 AM 0.1 7:55 PM Rise 2:58 PM
23 High 4:28 PM 5.4
23 Low 10:40 PM 0.1
Sa 24 High 4:46 AM 5.6 6:40 AM Set 3:55 AM 73
24 Low 11:11 AM -0.2 7:56 PM Rise 4:05 PM
24 High 5:30 PM 5.8
24 Low 11:44 PM -0.2
Su 25 High 5:45 AM 5.6 6:39 AM Set 4:28 AM 83
25 Low 12:05 PM -0.4 7:57 PM Rise 5:12 PM
25 High 6:27 PM 6.2
M 26 Low 12:42 AM -0.4 6:37 AM Set 5:02 AM 91
26 High 6:40 AM 5.6 7:58 PM Rise 6:19 PM
26 Low 12:56 PM -0.6
26 High 7:20 PM 6.5
Tu 27 Low 1:37 AM -0.5 6:36 AM Set 5:37 AM 96
27 High 7:32 AM 5.6 7:58 PM Rise 7:27 PM
27 Low 1:45 PM -0.7
27 High 8:10 PM 6.7
W 28 Low 2:28 AM -0.6 6:35 AM Set 6:16 AM 99
28 High 8:22 AM 5.5 7:59 PM Rise 8:34 PM
28 Low 2:32 PM -0.6
28 High 8:58 PM 6.7
Th 29 Low 3:17 AM -0.5 6:34 AM Set 7:00 AM 99
29 High 9:10 AM 5.3 8:00 PM Rise 9:39 PM
29 Low 3:17 PM -0.4
29 High 9:45 PM 6.5
F 30 Low 4:05 AM -0.3 6:33 AM Set 7:48 AM 97
30 High 9:56 AM 5.1 8:01 PM Rise 10:40 PM
30 Low 4:02 PM -0.2
30 High 10:30 PM 6.3
Sa 1 Low 4:52 AM -0.1 6:32 AM Set 8:41 AM 93
1 High 10:42 AM 4.9 8:01 PM Rise 11:35 PM
1 Low 4:47 PM 0.1
1 High 11:16 PM 5.9
Su 2 Low 5:38 AM 0.2 6:31 AM Set 9:38 AM 87
2 High 11:28 AM 4.8 8:02 PM
2 Low 5:32 PM 0.5
M 3 High 12:02 AM 5.6 6:30 AM Rise 12:23 AM 79
3 Low 6:25 AM 0.5 8:03 PM Set 10:36 AM
3 High 12:16 PM 4.6
3 Low 6:19 PM 0.8
Tu 4 High 12:50 AM 5.3 6:30 AM Rise 1:04 AM 71
4 Low 7:12 AM 0.7 8:04 PM Set 11:33 AM
4 High 1:07 PM 4.5
4 Low 7:10 PM 1.0
========OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST==========
OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST
NWS OCEAN PREDICTION CENTER WASHINGTON DC
500 AM EDT WED APR 21 2010
W CENTRAL N ATLC CONTINENTAL SHELF AND SLOPE WATERS BEYOND 20
NM...TO 250 NM OFFSHORE...INCLUDING S OF GEORGES BANK FROM 1000
FM TO...250 NM OFFSHORE.
SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.
ANZ088-211500-
CAPE FEAR TO 31N OUT TO 32N 73W TO 31N 74W
500 AM EDT WED APR 21 2010
TODAY
S WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 KT...EXCEPT
W OF 1000 FM SHIFTING TO W. SEAS 2 TO 4 FT BUILDING TO 3 TO 6
FT...HIGHEST NE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS...ENDING OVER W
PORTION LATE.
TONIGHT
WINDS BECOMING W TO NW 15 TO 25 KT THROUGHOUT...
EXCEPT W OF 1000 FM DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 15 KT LATE. SEAS
BECOMING 2 TO 5 FT...EXCEPT E OF 1000 FM 5 TO 8 FT...HIGHEST NE.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS ENDING OVER E PORTION.
THU
W TO NW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT...EXCEPT W PORTION 10 TO 15 KT.
SEAS 2 TO 4 FT...EXCEPT E OF 1000 FM SUBSIDING TO 4 TO 7 FT LATE.
THU NIGHT
W TO NW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 1 TO 3 FT...EXCEPT
E OF 1000 FM 3 TO 6 FT...HIGHEST E.
FRI
VARIABLE WINDS 10 KT OR LESS...BECOMING S TO SW 10 TO 15
KT LATE. SEAS BECOMING 2 TO 4 FT THROUGHOUT.
SAT
S TO SW WINDS BECOMING 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS BUILDING TO 4 TO
6 FT.
SUN
SW WINDS INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 KT. SEAS BUILDING TO 5 TO
8 FT.
| | Notice posted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 | |
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.
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