My previous postings titled "Unable to Post Message"
deal with a friend's views of a Western Intracostal
trip in Texas on the RiverExplorer. It has points
relevant to the DQ's future Mississippi Sound trips.
Now to the sunken boat situation. For those of you not
familiar with the lower river: NOLA is 95 miles upriver
from the Head of the Passes/Pilottown. From there it is
another 20 miles through the bars and jetties territory
of the Southwest Pass before arriving at the sea buoy
and open water. All foreign-flagged ships have to have
a local English speaking pilot aboard, from Baton Rouge
to the sea buoy. NOBRA is the pilot group from Baton
Rouge to NOLA, then in the NOLA harbor the Crescent
pilots take over to Pilottown. The last 20 miles are
directed by an Associated Branch, or Bar pilot. One
would have been on the big Zim ship incoming. The other
ship involved was a US vessel with just its own crew on
board, legal because of its size and staying in the
Intracostal system. There are 4 passes, but only the SW
is dredged to be deep enough for these ocean-going
vessels. So that's why they couldn't divert ships to
another pass. Some passenger ships did come up through
the Gulf Outlet and the Industrial Canal to a freight
wharf in NOLA. But they could not get back to the river
to continue upstream, as the lock is not big enough for
a ship. So the passengers got an eyeful of the biggest
'project' in NOLA and other less than touristy scenes
as they were bussed up to the cruise terminal. 2
passenger vessels diverted to Gulfport, MS and Mobile
and bussed their people to and from NOLA. One ship is
still at the Julia St. dock, having refunded the
passengers' fares, but letting them stay aboard anyway
to see Mardi Gras. This ship was due back in NOLA this
weekend, so she'll be ready to go. The Coast Guard
wanted to keep the pass closed until the sunken vessel
was completely removed, which could be a week more, but
pressure from the Port of NOLA officials and others
convinced them to move it enough to allow one-way
traffic through the SW Pass.
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