A closed southwest Michigan port is officially on the path to reopening.
St. Joseph Harbormaster Michael Moran announced Thursday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved an emergency dredge project to clear a channel through a dangerous shoal outside the St. Joseph Harbor, allowing the harbor to re-open upon completion of the project.
The contract has been awarded to Holland-based King Company, which completed the outer harbor dredging earlier this year. By stroke of fortune, King Company already has a dredge in the St. Joseph harbor, as it was sheltering from recent storms encountered during its return from scheduled maintenance.
“It’s not something we could have planned any better,” Moran said. “Everyone involved has been working diligently on their end trying to make this happen, and thanks to the Corps of Engineers and their hard work, it came together very well.”
The harbor has been closed to commercial traffic since Oct. 20, when the a 630-foot bulk carrier Manitowoc struck the bottom while attempting to enter the harbor. Moran said the sand blocked at least half the channel, and was caused by storms causing gale-force winds and 15-foot waves.
Since the harbor closed, a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of St. Joseph, commercial shipping stakeholders and elected officials have been working on a plan to fully reopen the harbor, according to Moran.
During the closure, Moran said the harbor has only been able to receive two lightly loaded barges of cement destined for the cement terminal.
“Those barges were limited in the amount they could carry, were restricted by the conditions they could enter the harbor in, and required the assistance of expensive additional tugboats to assist in maneuvering,” Moran said. “The harbor has not been able to receive material via self unloading freighter at either of the other docks in port.”
According to Moran, there is about 28,000 cubic yards of sand that needs to be removed, and the goal is to at least get a passable channel done so commercial vessels can enter the harbor through the end of shipping season. Then, Moran said, crews will finish clearing the shoal in the spring.
Moran said timeline for the start of the work – as well as the completion – are uncertain, and largely depend on the weather.
Moran added that the King Company still has some parts to move in, such as dredge pipe. That will also depend on the weather. The King Company said in a statement they they “are eager to help out our neighbors in the St. Joseph Harbor, and we are happy to be back dredging again in a port we know well.”
Additionally, the City of St. Joseph thanked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as all those involved in helping to reopen the harbor and to restore this critical infrastructure port to operation, according to a press release.
