Associated Branch Pilots

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The Bar Pilots have operated an internal Vessel Traffic System for over 60 years and have continually upgraded with the latest technology. This not only serves the Pilots but routinely our dispatchers will provide traffic information and local conditions to other mariners as well.

Our global economy requires that goods be able to move from point to point in a seamless fashion. The Bar Pilots keep the global transfer of goods running smoothly by providing timely, safe, and efficient service. Our 150 years of proven reliability has allowed the Mississippi River and Louisiana's ports to become an international powerhouse by ensuring safe guidance to tens of thousands of ships every year, carrying cargoes worth billions of dollars from all corners of the world.

By Captain Michael R. Lorino, JR Associated Branch Pilots President Metairie, LA Three feet. That's all it takes for the maritime economy on the Mississippi River to lose billions of dollars. Because of the lack of adequate funding for dredging the lower Mississippi, we at The Associated Branch Pilots were forced to reduce the acceptable draft of ships coming in and out of the river from 47 feet to 44 feet. The results of just those three feet are already being felt from New Orleans to the heartland of America in the form of billions of dollars.

The entrance to the Mississippi River creates unique logistical hurdles due to its geographical location. In addition, the weather and environmental conditions at these remote locations mean these stations were engineered to withstand the worst of conditions, while affording Pilots and staff a comfortable work environment. Since Pilots and their support staff work and live while they are on duty for two weeks at a time, stations have access to the latest information regarding weather, traffic density, water depths, navigational aids, and tides.

To meet this urgency, the Corps transferred $30 million dollars from its other projects. This $30 million will only allow the Corps to continue through April 2010 and an estimated additional $67 million will be needed to provide services through FY 2010.

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