Barges grounded by low water halt river traffic
The unusually low water level in the lower Mississippi River is causing barges to get stuck in mud and sand, disrupting river travel for shippers, recreational boaters and even passengers on a cruise line.
Lack of rainfall in recent weeks has left the Mississippi River approaching record low levels in some areas from Missouri south through Louisiana. The U.S. Coast Guard said at least eight "groundings" of barges have been reported in the past week, despite low-water restrictions on barge loads.
One of the groundings happened Friday between Louisiana and Mississippi, near Lake Providence, La. It halted river traffic in both directions for days "to clear the grounded barges from the channel and to deepen the channel via dredging to prevent future groundings," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson Sabrina Dalton said in an email.
As a result, dozens of tows and barges were lined up in both directions, waiting to get by. The stoppage also brought a halt to a Viking cruise ship with about 350 passengers on board, said R. Thomas Berner, a Penn State professor emeritus of journalism and American studies, and one of the passengers.
The Viking ship was originally supposed to launch from New Orleans on Saturday, but the water there was so low that the launch was moved to Baton Rouge, La., Berner said.
By Tuesday, the ship was halted near Vicksburg, Miss., due to the backup caused by the grounding. It wasn't near a dock so passengers couldn't leave. The ship's crew kept people entertained as much as possible with music, games and other activities.
"Some of us are taking naps," Berner joked.
The stuck barges were freed midday Tuesday. Berner said the cruise ship restarted Tuesday night, but the restart didn't last long: Viking told passengers in a letter Wednesday that the rest of the scheduled two-week trip was being called off, citing low water problems causing additional closures. Viking made arrangements to get passengers home and the letter said they would get a full refund.
Nearly all of the Mississippi River basin, from Minnesota through Louisiana, has seen below-normal rainfall since late August. The basin from St. Louis south has been largely dry for three months, according to the National Weather Service.