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| Subject: | Daily Update | | Date: | Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | | Priority: | Normal | | Notice: |
URGENT INFORMATION: None
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PORT LIMITS/INFORMATION
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Maximum Depths - (Fresh)
Harbor Entrance - 47.0 ft
Main Channel - 45.0 ft
BERTH LIMITS/INFORMATION:
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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: (PER PILOTS, AS OF 0945/20)
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KMI - STENA PRIMORSK - ETA 20/1930, ETA PM/21
BP - T/B 650-4 - IN, ETS 0630/21
NO OTHER TANKER/BULK TRAFFIC REPORTED
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FEDERAL, STATE & LOCAL FILING REQUIREMENTS:
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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.
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NEWS ARTICLES: (5/19) Biodiesel production soars, and so do prices
OMFuels CEO Charles Robert Adams fills up with biodiesel at Fox Music in
North Charleston. OMFuels operates the Charleston area's only retail
biodiesel pump at the Montague Avenue music store.
Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier
Southeast BioDiesel partner Dean Schmelter explains how his company
processes chicken fat into fuel in an October photo. The rising cost of
raw materials is keeping his company from making much profit despite
surging interest in the renewable energy source.
The Post and Courier
Video
The SouthEast plant in North Charleston produce around 18,000 gallons of
biodiesel a day by chemically treating truckloads of heated chicken fat.
Watch »
The license plate reads BIODZL, and for almost a year now, Dean
Schmelter's dark Mercedes sedan has run almost exclusively on chicken fat.
Schmelter and his business partner built a $3.5 million plant on the
former Navy base in North Charleston, where a dozen workers chemically
convert the poultry goo into fuel. Dubbed Southeast BioDiesel LLC, the
facility mixed its first batch in July 2007 and now cranks out 18,000
gallons of biodiesel every day, 360,000 gallons a month.
"There's nothing like driving down the road on fuel that you didn't pay
your enemy for," Schmelter said. "Let me tell you, it's a great feeling."
But the wonder-fuel is no longer cheap unless you work at Schmelter's
plant. Demand for biodiesel and the oils that are used to make it have
surged in step with the cost of crude oil and conventional gas.
"The chicken guys have figured out the exact point where we stop making a
profit, and that's where they keep it," Schmelter said. "We're not making
money, but we're not losing it, either."
Biofuel has been championed as a way to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign
oil. But much of the biodiesel produced in South Carolina is shipped to
Europe, where stronger currencies have more buying power and suppliers can
get higher prices.
Meanwhile, plans for four more plants in South Carolina are on hold while
state lawmakers consider a package of more robust incentives.
$4-plus
Biodiesel comes from renewable sources such as chicken fat, soybeans and
peanuts. It emits one-fifth as much carbon dioxide as conventional,
petroleum-based diesel and gets better mileage. And you can drink the
stuff.
Schmelter, a businessman by training and a former biology teacher, cobbled
together the North Charleston plant through trial and error for about half
what it would have cost to hire a contractor to build it. The plant
essentially is a tank farm — tanks for chicken fat, cooling water,
chemical additives and the finished product. Three adjacent trailers house
a makeshift lab, bathrooms and offices. The place whirs and clangs like
the nearby MeadWestvaco Corp. paper mill, but it smells like a cafe.
"It's basically like a thick chicken soup," Schmelter said of the main
ingredient. " 'Everything but the cackle' is what they tell me."
The process is relatively simple. For every 100 gallons of chicken fat,
workers add 10 gallons of methanol, a type of alcohol used as a catalyst
to make the fat more combustible. After mixing, heating and filtering,
they are left with 100 gallons of biofuel and 10 gallons of glycerin,
which can be used in a variety of products, including soap, toothpaste and
animal feed.
Every week, about 1,000 gallons of Schmelter's fuel is poured into cars
just down the road at the Fox Music store, where OM Fuels LLC has set up
the only retail biodiesel pump in the Charleston area. The cost last week:
$4.12 per gallon, roughly the same as a gallon of conventional diesel.
OM Fuels said it isn't making money on biodiesel, either. Chief Executive
Charles Robert Adams said the green fuel is tightly tied to commodities
markets, where restless traders push prices through volatile swings and
surges.
"It's just gambling," Adams said of the market action. "They don't add one
iota of value to the product going to the public."
When the OM Fuels facility started pumping in December 2006, its product
was about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than conventional diesel — for about
two weeks. Still, the vanguard pump has steadily drawn customers.
"Most people are willing to pay more for it," Adams said. "This country is
going to blow $800 billion this year on imported oil. We can't continue to
do that."
Renewable but finite
There are 170 plants making biodiesel in the United States, 65 of which
cranked up in the past year. In 2007, those plants cranked out 500 million
gallons of fuel compared with 20 million in 2003.
The burgeoning industry is particularly robust in South Carolina, where
three plants, including Southeast BioDiesel, produced almost 239,00
gallons of the fuel last year.
The growth, however, has been costly. The price of soybean oil, the main
ingredient in most U.S. biodiesel, has risen faster recently than that of
crude oil, almost tripling in five years. The prices of alternatives such
as chicken fat and canola oil have surged in lockstep. And yellow grease —
cooking oil collected from restaurants and food companies — increasingly
is in short supply.
"Our feed stock is basically tied to light, sweet crude right now," said
Southeast BioDiesel lab technician Tom Gion.
Some biodiesel makers are scaling back operations, according to Amber
Pearson, spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, a trade group
composed mainly of biofuel producers and farmers.
There are 57 biodiesel plants under construction, roughly 12 percent less
than there were a year ago, according to the Missouri-based group, which
was founded in 1992 by soybean interests.
"It's just a strange time for feedstock prices right now," Pearson
said. "Some of the producers are not as concerned with profit as just
getting by right now. ... As with any industry, what goes up, must go
down — we hope."
The nation's biodiesel engine is idling on government subsidies and
exports. The federal government offers $1 per gallon in tax credits to
biodiesel blenders, and most states offer additional incentives. South
Carolina gives tax credits of up to 30 cents per gallon produced and up to
25 percent of the cost of a new plant. On the retail side, stations can
get a tax break amounting to 25 cents for every gallon of biodiesel
pumped.
Lawmakers also considered biodieselmakers in drafting the farm bill that
passed last week. It includes $300 million to offset surging feedstock
prices. President Bush has said he may veto the bill, which he says is
fiscally irresponsible.
Still, biodiesel is an increasingly tough sale. Some of the fuel pumping
out of North Charleston's Southeast BioDiesel plant goes to the state's
fleet of school buses and other vehicles, under a legislative mandate that
the government burn alternative fuels when feasible. But about a third of
the facility's fuel is siphoned into tankers heading to Europe, where more
than half of all cars run on diesel, and the fuel is roughly twice as
expensive as in the U.S.
"That's the trend of every biodiesel producer in the state," said Erika
Hartwig, the state's renewable energy coordinator. "Even the feedstocks
are leaving the country, which was news to me until recently."
Alternative alternatives
For now, Southeast BioDiesel is coasting, trying to get as far as it can
on a tiny profit margin. To pay the bills, Schmelter relies on two other
factories that he owns, which make chemicals to purify water.
The so-called silver bullets of the biodiesel industry — fast-growing fuel
sources such as algae and rapeseed, the source of canola oil — are still
at least a few years from being grown and harvested en masse.
Plans for at least four other plants — facilities that would make South
Carolina the nation's No. 3 biodiesel producer — are on hold while
lawmakers consider a plan to extend and boost the industry's incentives.
Hartwig of the Energy Office said the legislation has been driven in part
by biodiesel exports; politicians who push for energy independence would
like to keep the alternative fuel pipeline within the borders of the
nation, if not the state.
"Everybody can see that this is potentially temporary," Hartwig
explained. "And we'd rather see these companies operating rather than
shutting down entirely."
Meanwhile, Schmelter spends his days hunting for cheaper chicken fat and
alternative ingredients such as beef tallow. And an empty rectangle of
land sits next to his North Charleston factory, a site his company has
snapped up for a second plant.
CURRENT ISSUES: 05/20 - 1000 - SCS PA MONTHLY MEETING
05/20 - 1800 - RECEPTION ON THE DOCK - SPIRIT OF SOUTH
CAROLINA
FUTURE/ONGOING ISSUES:
06/03 - 1930 - CHARLESTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
06/03-05 - GPA CONFERENCE "SHIFTING TRADE LANES", HYATT, SAVANNAH, GA
06/17 - 1000 - SCS PA MONTHLY MEETING
06/17 - 1930 - CHARLESTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
06/26 - TBA - PROPELLOR CLUB ANNUAL CRUISE
2013 - PROPOSED TIME FRAME FOR NEW PORT TERMINAL TO BE COMPLETED
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CURRENT HURRICANE ALERT STATUS - OUT OF SEASON
Seaport Security Alert currently at YELLOW/ELEVATED - MARSEC 1
Airport Security Alert currently at ORANGE/HIGH
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TIDE INFORMATION:
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Tu 20 Low 3:01 AM 0.3 6:17 AM Set 6:15 AM 99
20 High 8:45 AM 4.6 8:15 PM Rise 9:14 PM
20 Low 2:46 PM 0.3
20 High 9:17 PM 5.9
W 21 Low 3:40 AM 0.4 6:17 AM Set 6:59 AM 99
21 High 9:24 AM 4.6 8:16 PM Rise 10:08 PM
21 Low 3:21 PM 0.4
21 High 9:54 PM 5.7
Th 22 Low 4:18 AM 0.5 6:16 AM Set 7:50 AM 97
22 High 10:02 AM 4.5 8:17 PM Rise 10:57 PM
22 Low 3:58 PM 0.5
22 High 10:30 PM 5.6
F 23 Low 4:56 AM 0.6 6:16 AM Set 8:45 AM 93
23 High 10:39 AM 4.4 8:17 PM Rise 11:41 PM
23 Low 4:35 PM 0.6
23 High 11:07 PM 5.5
Sa 24 Low 5:35 AM 0.6 6:15 AM Set 9:43 AM 87
24 High 11:19 AM 4.4 8:18 PM
24 Low 5:16 PM 0.7
24 High 11:45 PM 5.4
Su 25 Low 6:16 AM 0.6 6:15 AM Rise 12:19 AM 80
25 High 12:02 PM 4.4 8:19 PM Set 10:42 AM
25 Low 6:02 PM 0.8
M 26 High 12:27 AM 5.3 6:14 AM Rise 12:53 AM 72
26 Low 7:00 AM 0.6 8:19 PM Set 11:42 AM
26 High 12:50 PM 4.5
26 Low 6:54 PM 0.9
Tu 27 High 1:14 AM 5.2 6:14 AM Rise 1:23 AM 62
27 Low 7:47 AM 0.5 8:20 PM Set 12:43 PM
27 High 1:44 PM 4.7
27 Low 7:54 PM 0.9
W 28 High 2:07 AM 5.1 6:14 AM Rise 1:52 AM 52
28 Low 8:38 AM 0.3 8:21 PM Set 1:44 PM
28 High 2:42 PM 5.0
28 Low 8:59 PM 0.8
Th 29 High 3:04 AM 5.1 6:13 AM Rise 2:20 AM 41
29 Low 9:31 AM 0.1 8:21 PM Set 2:47 PM
29 High 3:42 PM 5.4
29 Low 10:07 PM 0.7
F 30 High 4:03 AM 5.0 6:13 AM Rise 2:50 AM 31
30 Low 10:26 AM -0.1 8:22 PM Set 3:53 PM
30 High 4:41 PM 5.8
30 Low 11:12 PM 0.4
Sa 31 High 5:03 AM 5.0 6:13 AM Rise 3:22 AM 21
31 Low 11:21 AM -0.4 8:22 PM Set 5:03 PM
31 High 5:39 PM 6.2
Su 1 Low 12:15 AM 0.1 6:12 AM Rise 3:59 AM 12
1 High 6:03 AM 5.1 8:23 PM Set 6:17 PM
1 Low 12:16 PM -0.6
1 High 6:37 PM 6.6
M 2 Low 1:13 AM -0.1 6:12 AM Rise 4:43 AM 5
2 High 7:01 AM 5.1 8:24 PM Set 7:32 PM
2 Low 1:11 PM -0.8
2 High 7:34 PM 6.8
Tu 3 Low 2:09 AM -0.3 6:12 AM Rise 5:36 AM 1
3 High 8:00 AM 5.1 8:24 PM Set 8:46 PM
3 Low 2:06 PM -0.9
3 High 8:31 PM 6.9
W 4 Low 3:04 AM -0.4 6:12 AM Rise 6:39 AM 0
4 High 8:58 AM 5.2 8:25 PM Set 9:53 PM
4 Low 3:01 PM -0.9
4 High 9:27 PM 6.9
Th 5 Low 3:58 AM -0.4 6:11 AM Rise 7:49 AM 1
5 High 9:55 AM 5.2 8:25 PM Set 10:50 PM
5 Low 3:56 PM -0.8
5 High 10:23 PM 6.7
F 6 Low 4:51 AM -0.4 6:11 AM Rise 9:02 AM 6
6 High 10:54 AM 5.2 8:26 PM Set 11:36 PM
6 Low 4:51 PM -0.5
6 High 11:19 PM 6.4
Sa 7 Low 5:44 AM -0.2 6:11 AM Rise 10:14 AM 13
7 High 11:52 AM 5.1 8:26 PM
7 Low 5:48 PM -0.2
Su 8 High 12:13 AM 6.1 6:11 AM Set 12:15 AM 22
8 Low 6:37 AM -0.1 8:27 PM Rise 11:21 AM
8 High 12:51 PM 5.1
8 Low 6:46 PM 0.1
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MARINE WEATHER:
WATERS FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER TO EDISTO BEACH SC OUT 20 NM-
346 AM EDT TUE MAY 20 2008
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM EDT THIS
AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE TONIGHT
TODAY
SW WINDS 15 TO 20 KT...INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT....BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FT. ISOLATED SHOWERS
AND TSTMS LATE.
TONIGHT
SW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT...DIMINISHING TO 15 TO 20 KT LATE. SEAS
3 TO 5 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS. SOME TSTMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS IN THE EVENING.
WED
W WINDS 15 TO 20 KT...BECOMING SW 10 TO 15 KT IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 3 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 TO 3 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE
OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS.
WED NIGHT
W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE
OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS IN THE EVENING.
THU
NW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SW IN THE AFTERNOON. SEAS
2 FT.
THU NIGHT
SW WINDS 10 KT. SEAS 2 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND TSTMS.
FRI
NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 2 TO 3 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND TSTMS.
SAT
NE WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 4 FT.
MARINERS ARE REMINDED THAT WINDS AND SEAS CAN BE HIGHER IN AND
NEAR TSTMS. | | Notice posted on Tuesday, May 20, 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.
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