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Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to issue a worker ID card that uses biometrics to control access to secure areas in ports and on ships. The program is delayed, in large part because (1) offi- cials had difficulty obtaining timely approval to proceed with the prototype test; (2) extra time was required to identi- fy data to be collected for a cost-benefit analysis; and (3) additional work was required to assess card technologies. The agency still lacks an approved compre- hensive project plan and has yet to identi- fy eligibility requirements for the ID card. (HK Law).

ACP Announces

Record Tonnage

Only two months into the 2005 fiscal year, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) is breaking records. The ACP announced that during the months of October and

November, a total of 46,956,399 Panama

Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons were moved through the waterway - a 7.1 percent increase com- pared to the same period last year. More- over, during the month of November, a daily average of 778,176 PC/UMS tons transited through the Panama Canal. This new figure breaks the record of 774,014

PC/UMS tons previously held in April 2004.

ASA Members Respond to Delaware Spill

Several Members of the American Sal- vage Association (ASA) were contracted to assist in the case of the tanker Athos I, which began leaking oil as she entered a terminal off the Delaware River outside of Philadelphia, Pa., on the evening of

November 27, 2004. Three ASA Gener- al Members, along with an Associate

Member, joined together to respond to the casualty.

The ASA members provided salvage assistance, as well as the pumping, ligh- tering and removal of the crude oil. The

Athos I is currently on even keel, and free of all cargo. At the direction of the U.S.

Coast Guard, ASA members are working to patch the hull of the tanker and prepare her for dry dock. "This marine emergency required a professional salvage response to quickly protect against further damage to the marine environment and surrounding environs," said ASA President Dick Fair- banks. "ASA members came together to ensure this was another successful response," he continued.

January, 2005 • MarineNews 11

News

Unbeatable Quality

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GENERATORS • ENGINES PUMPS PARTS SERVICE 1212 St. Charles St. Houma, LA 70360

Phone: 985-857-8000 / 800-960-0068 www.mlengine.com / [email protected]

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Bisso Salvages Liftboat

Bisso Marine recently completed the salvage of a 105 Class Liftboat from 258 ft. of water from the Main Pass Area. The liftboat, which was believed to have sunk in much shallower water in the mid 1980's, was discovered to be on top of a 20- in. pipeline after Hurricane Ivan. Bisso Marine took extreme care to remove the liftboat to minimize the potential damage to the pipeline.

As a precautionary measure the liftboat was lifted several feet above the pipeline then moved several hundred feet northward before being lifted to the surface. Due to the depth of the water and because the liftboat needed to be lifted out of the water on location to be placed onto a materials barge for transport; Bisso Marine specially configured the 600 ton capacity D/B Lili Bisso with an A&R winch and two specially designed single sheave blocks. The liftboat was lifted from the -258 ft. seafloor to a +15 ft. materials barge in a single lifting operation.

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