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| Subject: | CHARLESTON SC DAILY PORT UPDATE | | Date: | Thursday, December 22, 2011 | | Priority: | Normal | | Notice: |
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:
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 40'00, tide needed for anything
deeper than 38'00
BP - Max draft 30'00" Low water
Wando Terminal - Max draft 43'00 MLW - tide needed for anything deeper
than
43'01" 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
Veterans Terminal 35' MLW tidal restricted
Nucor - Max draft 25'00 (movements daylight & tidal restricted), Max LOA
550', Max Beam 52'
Pier J Max Draft 30 FT
Per pilots - restrictions for Tanker movements:
Drafts of 38'00 or less may transit at anytime Drafts of 38'01 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:
INNER ANCHORAGE - TUG RICHARD BRUSCO / BARGE CHICAGO BRIDGE ETA 1300/22ND
KMI4 - NAVIG8 SUCCESS - ETA 1/5/2012
ARIS - ETA 1/8/2012
VETERANS TERMINAL - CHRYSSA K - IN ETD 1400/24TH
============================================
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. All persons wanting unescorted access
to any vessel must have a valid TWIC.
============================================================
Current Articles:
Red Tape and Lack of Funds Mean Trouble for Charleston Port Expansion
South Carolina officials have received quite a shock. Rather than getting
an expedited project to deepen Charleston Harbor, the Army Corps of
Engineers estimates such a project won't be completed until 2024.
That is, if it even gets the go-ahead.
In two years, the newly-expanded Panama Canal will start handling container
ships that are twice the size of the ones regularly calling on east coast
ports in the U.S. The average capacity now is about 3,000 containers (or
TEU as they’re called – 20-foot equivalent units). The new so-called
"post-Panamax" ships carry around 8,000 containers.
The Port of Charleston can handle the new ships now but only at high tide.
They draw about 46 to 48 feet of draft fully loaded. State officials want
to deepen the harbor from the current 45 feet to 50 feet so the ships can
call at port 24/7.
Here’s the catch: Federal regulations lay out a lengthy process of approval
and design before one spoonful of mud can be dredged. That process just got
under way – which means it may be a decade between the canal’s opening and
Charleston’s ability to handle the big ships any time of day.
South Carolina officials say that's just too long.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina gave Fox News an
apocalyptic assessment of the delay, saying, “If the port loses its
competitive edge -- if it loses its ability to accept shipping as shipping
is going to change -- then our whole economy comes to a standstill."
Four ports along the East Coast should have 50-foot harbors by the time the
canal opens – New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, Norfolk and Miami. The Port
of Charleston is busier than Baltimore and Miami, yet it couldn’t get any
money in President Obama’s 2012 budget to fund the years-long studies it
will take to approve dredging. In a last-minute bit of finagling, Graham
managed to find $4.2 million to keep the process going.
“We’re a red state in South Carolina,” Graham says. “It's no accident that
we weren’t in Obama’s budget. If I had voted for health care – Obamacare –
I bet we would have gotten our port deepened – but I’d have been at the
bottom of the harbor ... so ...”
The Army Corps of Engineers, which will conduct the studies and do the
eventual work, understands the frustration of state and port officials. Lt.
Col. Ed Chamberlayne said the Corps will make every effort to speed up the
process.
“It makes absolute sense that we need to move as quickly as we
can,”Chamberlayne said. But he emphasized the need to “be as thorough as we
can with our process. Because we want to get it right the first time. If we
don’t get this feasibility study right, we may never get to construction.”
The study is estimated to take eight years and cost $20 million. Under
federal rules and regulations, the Army Corps has to meticulously study all
the possible implications of port deepening: the environmental impact of
digging up the channel bottom, shoreline and channel dynamics, saltwater
intrusion up the rivers, oxygen content of the water and its effect on fish
and a cost/benefit analysis of deepening versus leaving it as is.
All the data they collect and analyze must be peer reviewed. And that takes
time.
Ironically, Charleston just went through a 14-year-long process to deepen
the port from 40 to 45 feet. That project was completed in 2004. The need
for another lengthy assessment strikes port officials as unnecessary.
“We believe the process can be done faster,” Jim Newsome, head of the South
Carolina State Ports Authority, said. “That’s the operative message. And we
need to move along as fast as we can, or the region’s going to suffer.”
The Ports Authority said a single inch of extra draft in a ship means
millions of dollars in added commerce. Here’s how they break it down:
• 358,000 pounds of coffee, worth more than $500,000
• 36 John Deere tractors, worth more than $2.4 million
• 58,000 pairs of Adidasshoes, valued at $5 million
• 9,600 laptop computers, valued at $8.5 million
• 1,540 55-inch TVs, worth approximately $3 million
You can see why Charleston doesn’t want a 10-year lag between the time the
bigger ships begin using the Panama Canal and the time the port in South
Carolina can accept them on a regular basis.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said upgrading the port is crucial to South
Carolina’s economy.
“I’ve spoken to the president about it,” Riley said. “It’s a very important
infrastructure investment that makes our country more competitive, and
obviously it makes Charleston and the port of Charleston more competitive.”
Charleston also is locked in a fierce competition with nearby Savannah,
Ga., for port expansion. The Savannah project is expected to cost $700
million. Charleston says it can upgrade its port for less than half of
that, so it should get priority.
Newsome said deepening the harbor is an important component of economic
growth, and he points to the emerging renaissance in American manufacturing.
"We have a chance to gain, export-wise, which is where we have suffered,”
he said. “You can’t export heavy cargo without deep harbors.”
Expansion of the Panama Canal certainly didn’t take federal officials by
surprise. The project was green-lighted in 2006. Yet with only two years of
construction left on the canal, the U.S. government still doesn’t have a
national plan to upgrade ports to take economic advantage of the big ships
that will soon come to call.
Panamanian officials boast that the canal will be a huge economic boon for
their nation – creating jobs and lowering poverty. Which has South Carolina
officials wondering – if Panama has its act together over the future of
shipping, why don’t we?
VIDEO LINK:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/21/red-tape-and-lack-funds-mean-trouble-for-charleston-port-expansion/?test=latestnews
================================================================
CURRENT ISSUES: NONE
FUTURE/ONGOING ISSUES:
1/17/12 – 1145 – CWIT monthly luncheon
1/26/12 - 0815 - NAV OPS MEETING
2/10/12 - ANNUAL PORT MEETING
2018 - ETA FOR NEW CHARLESTON PORT TERMINAL TO BE COMPLETED
===========================================================
SECURITY LEVEL: MARSEC 1
CURRENT HURRICANE STATUS - 5 / OFF SEASON
===================================================================
Tides for Charleston (Customhouse Wharf) starting with July 21, 2011.
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible
Th 22 High 5:28 AM 6.4 7:18 AM Rise 5:01 AM 11
22 Low 11:48 AM -0.3 5:18 PM Set 3:27 PM
22 High 5:36 PM 5.2
22 Low 11:52 PM -0.8
F 23 High 6:25 AM 6.5 7:19 AM Rise 6:06 AM 4
23 Low 12:43 PM -0.5 5:19 PM Set 4:26 PM
23 High 6:32 PM 5.3
Sa 24 Low 12:47 AM -0.9 7:19 AM Rise 7:06 AM 1
24 High 7:18 AM 6.6 5:19 PM Set 5:30 PM
24 Low 1:34 PM -0.6
24 High 7:26 PM 5.4
Su 25 Low 1:39 AM -0.9 7:20 AM Rise 7:59 AM 0
25 High 8:09 AM 6.5 5:20 PM Set 6:35 PM
25 Low 2:24 PM -0.6
25 High 8:17 PM 5.3
M 26 Low 2:29 AM -0.7 7:20 AM Rise 8:45 AM 1
26 High 8:58 AM 6.3 5:20 PM Set 7:40 PM
26 Low 3:11 PM -0.5
26 High 9:07 PM 5.3
Tu 27 Low 3:18 AM -0.5 7:21 AM Rise 9:24 AM 5
27 High 9:44 AM 6.1 5:21 PM Set 8:42 PM
27 Low 3:57 PM -0.3
27 High 9:55 PM 5.2
W 28 Low 4:06 AM -0.2 7:21 AM Rise 9:59 AM 11
28 High 10:29 AM 5.7 5:22 PM Set 9:42 PM
28 Low 4:42 PM -0.1
28 High 10:43 PM 5.0
Th 29 Low 4:54 AM 0.2 7:21 AM Rise 10:31 AM 19
29 High 11:14 AM 5.4 5:22 PM Set 10:39 PM
29 Low 5:26 PM 0.1
29 High 11:31 PM 4.9
F 30 Low 5:44 AM 0.5 7:22 AM Rise 11:01 AM 27
30 High 11:59 AM 5.0 5:23 PM Set 11:34 PM
30 Low 6:11 PM 0.3
Sa 31 High 12:20 AM 4.8 7:22 AM Rise 11:31 AM 36
31 Low 6:36 AM 0.8 5:24 PM
31 High 12:46 PM 4.7
31 Low 6:57 PM 0.4
Su 1 High 1:14 AM 4.8 7:22 AM Set 12:29 AM 46
1 Low 7:33 AM 1.0 5:24 PM Rise 12:01 PM
1 High 1:37 PM 4.5
1 Low 7:46 PM 0.5
M 2 High 2:07 AM 4.8 7:22 AM Set 1:23 AM 55
2 Low 8:31 AM 1.0 5:25 PM Rise 12:33 PM
2 High 2:29 PM 4.4
2 Low 8:37 PM 0.5
Tu 3 High 3:00 AM 4.9 7:22 AM Set 2:17 AM 65
3 Low 9:28 AM 1.0 5:26 PM Rise 1:08 PM
3 High 3:23 PM 4.3
3 Low 9:28 PM 0.4
W 4 High 3:54 AM 5.1 7:23 AM Set 3:12 AM 73
4 Low 10:22 AM 0.9 5:27 PM Rise 1:47 PM
4 High 4:15 PM 4.4
4 Low 10:18 PM 0.3
===================================================================
OFFSHORE WEATHER FORECAST
Synopsis...A COLD FRONT WILL STALL TO THE WEST TODAY...AS HIGH PRESSURE
REMAINS IN PLACE OVER THE ATLANTIC. LOW PRESSURE WILL THEN TRACK ALONG THE
FRONT...DRAGGING IT INTO THE AREA LATE FRIDAY AND SE OF THE WATERS
SATURDAY. WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT DURING THE
EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK.
Today...S winds 10 kt. Seas 2 to 3 ft...building to 3 to 4 ft late.
Isolated showers.
Tonight...S winds 10 to 15 kt...becoming SW 15 to 20 kt after midnight.
Seas 3 to 4 ft...building to 4 to 5 ft after midnight.
Fri...SW winds 15 to 20 kt...becoming W 10 kt in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 4
ft. A chance of showers.
Fri Night...NW winds 10 kt...becoming N after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 ft. A
chance of showers in the evening... Then a slight chance of showers after
midnight.
Sat...NE winds 10 to 15 kt...increasing to 15 to 20 kt in the afternoon.
Seas 3 to 4 ft.
Sat Night...NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. A slight chance of showers.
Sun...N winds 10 kt. Seas 2 to 3 ft. A chance of showers.
Sun Night...NW winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 2 to 4 ft. A chance of showers.
Mon...N winds 15 to 20 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft.
Mon Night...NE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 2 to 3 ft.
| | Notice posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 | |
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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