Miss. coal traffic slowly resumes while waiting for power, people

Washington (Platts)--8Sep2005

Traffic interrupted on the Mississippi River by Hurricane Katrina began
returning to normal this week, despite stranded and missing barges and
submerged obstructions in the Gulf of Mexico. 

"The river is OK. Once a hurricane passes, rivers get back to normal," said
Army Corps of Engineers spokesman John Hall. 

Nonetheless, the Lower Mississippi was open in daylight hours only and
restricted to vessels with drafts up to 39 feet instead of its normal 45-foot
draft.

But initial fears of lengthy disruptions in shipping some of the 500 million
tons of cargo that move on the Mississippi annually proved unfounded.

The Port of New Orleans, the nation's biggest handler of cargo, is not
expected to open to commerce for about two weeks. ?The Port of New Orleans?
riverfront terminals survived Hurricane Katrina in fairly decent shape,? said
Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange. ?Although they are damaged, they are
still workable once electrical power and manpower is available.?

However, he said the port would be dedicated to military relief vessels for
the next several weeks. He added that many repairs will be needed to bring the
port back to full capacity.

Dan Martin, Ingram Barge Co. senior vice president of sales and customer
service, told Platts Coal Trader Wednesday that while the water had receded,
shipping was still being affected there. Martin said Ingram is still in the
process of inspecting its barges and tallying damage.

A main concern for MEMCO Barge Lines, a division of American Electric Power
that owns seven marine service facilities from Baton Rouge, La., to the Gulf
of Mexico, is locating employees who suffered through the crisis and getting
them back to work, said spokesman Mark Carr.

Both Martin and Carr said their companies had several barge tows on the river
delivering products including coal.

"We're certainly still being affected," Martin said. "The river is open to
barge traffic and ships are slowly getting through, but most of the terminals
are still without power and employees. Things are nowhere near normal."

TECO keeps coal moving to Tampa Electric
Water has receded from the TECO Bulk Terminal facility in Davant, La., where
the warehouses and coalfield had been flooded, the company said Wednesday. It
expects to be able to load products at Davant within 30-45 days, once damage
assessment has been completed and repairs are under way. 

In the meantime, it resumed coal deliveries to its sister company, Tampa
Electric, using floating cranes at an alternate location upriver. TECO Barge
Line discharged 23,000 tons of coal from its vessels, and the coal was loaded
on a TECO Ocean Shipping vessel, which was en route to Tampa Electric via the
Gulf of Mexico. Delivery is expected on Friday.

TECO Ocean Shipping had minimal impacts with its fleet operating normally in
all markets except those that depend on access to the Mississippi. TECO Barge
Line had 70 barges and two towboats stranded on levees, but a salvage company
was working to salvage or recover them. "We expect to have all our vessels
recovered within three to four weeks," said President Sal Litrico. 

Tom Allegretti, president of the American Waterways Operators, said
communication problems on the lower river make it difficult to know just how
many barges are held up.

The industry has a reputation for resilience and that "we are confident that
most barges will be back up and moving soon," he said in a statement. 

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. said its terminals in Louisiana and
Mississippi suffered no significant structural damage as a result of Hurricane
Katrina and seven of the nine were in service.

At its International Marine Terminal facility in Myrtle Grove, La., which
handles approximately 12-mil tons of coal and other materials annually,
initial damage assessments weren't bad.

"There are no signs of significant structural damage, but we're waiting for
electricity to be restored to get a better idea of damages out there and when
we can resume operations," spokesman Rick Rainey told Platts Coal Trader.

KMP continues to evaluate hurricane damage, but does not expect the storm will
have a material adverse impact on its financial results. The company estimates
that the cost will be less than $10-mil, including insurance deductibles and
lost business at its operations.

The company said other facilities, including its Barge Canal Dock in Baton
Rouge, which handles mainly petroleum coke, and were minimally impacted and
continued to operate. 

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