Well, Little more info I found out. 3 Slips will be Chevron on Cp3 until Cp4 is built. Chevron plans on moving out of Cp1 totally. Forgot the company they told me would share CP3 with them. Want to say Anadarko but not for sure.
What port do you work out of? I would put the incident rate in Fourchon up against the incident rate of most ports. Every day there are more vessel moves in Port Fourchon than anywhere else in the US. So, even if there is one incident per month in this highly congested port our numbers will be lower. You shouldn’t bad mouth an entire group of mariners just because you don’t have the license or skill to come play with the big boys.
I work in Fourchon now and I’ve worked NYC and the entire east coast, GOM, and the Caribbean. The problem with Fourchon isn’t with the skills of the mariners working there (with the exception of the enormous influx of people who aren’t familiar with the port, but congestion. The power has grown exponentially since the first time I sailed in (around 2004) and the boats have gotten much larger. I’m sure the guys who have been in the port longer than me could go even further but eventually, in my humble opinion, the channels need to be deepened and widened and there inevitably VTS will be implemented.
VTS would shut the whole place down. No one would even be able to get a word in edgewise. I remember what it was like in Morgan City, when it was still busy with oilfield traffic. Total friggin nightmare. Any VTS operator would be on medication within 60 days of starting work there.
I’ve worked in many ports with VTS and once people get used to it, it helps. You can’t get a word in edgewise now on 13 in Fourchon and when you give a security call no one listens… VTS would have it’s own channel too. Anyway, regardless of anyone’s opinion on VTS, as the accidents add up the CG will reach in their bag of fix alls and that will be one of the first things they grab. The CG always uses band aids that don’t really fix the problem. Fourchon is just not a large enough waterway to support the size and number of vessels that it’s trying to support…
The people there already can’t stand change. How long do the high intensity range lights last every time before someone shoots one out. They have lasted this time longer than I have ever seen. Can’t imagine most of them talking to the VTS anyway. Especially not the fishing boats whom most can’t even speak English. It’s a nightmare now but I can’t begin to imagine the absolute ridiculousness that a VTS would cause in that shit hole!
Well, it would be nice if they would designate certain channels for say Haliburton or Flotation so you don’t get stepped on every time you make a security call. Can’t wait to see that place in the rear view mirror…