A logjam of ships, tugboats and barges because of low water levels on the Mississippi River is threatening trade of grains, fertilizer and other goods.
As Bloomberg reports, Ingram Barge Company declared force majeure in a letter to customers due to “near-historic” low water conditions on the Mississippi River.
What is more, the USCG informed that there was a queue of 122 vessels at Stack Island and 15 vessels at Memphis, while due to increased groundings, the number of vessels in tow is being restricted.
In recent weeks, barge carriers and shippers have dealt with increasingly severe low water levels—reducing shipping capacity and resulting in record rates
USDA’s Grain Transportation Report noted, adding that, beginning in July, the average level of the Mississippi River at New Orleans was well below the 5-year average and continued to drop.
With lower water levels, vessel operators and shippers have had to use lighter loads per barge because of draft restrictions and fewer barges per tow. In fact, American Commercial Barge Line said tonnages per southbound barge have been reduced by 20% to 27%.
Moreover, the number of barges per tow have been reduced by 17% to 38%. The industry has also experienced groundings and intermittent outages. As of October 4, the cost per ton to ship from St. Louis to the Gulf was $90.45/ton, up 218% from last year and up 379% from the 3-year average.
