The Coast Guard on Thursday enlisted mariners to help locate sunken boats and other obstacles on the Mississippi River in efforts to resume commercial traffic on the key US waterway
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2021) The Coast Guard on Thursday enlisted mariners to help locate sunken boats and other obstacles on the Mississippi River in efforts to resume commercial traffic on the key US waterway.
"Some key areas along the river remain closed as recovery operations continue," the Coast Guard said in a press release. "Mariners are requested to immediately report any hazards to navigation, discrepant aids-to-navigation, or any other hazardous conditions."
The appeal comes as the Coast Guard works with local officials to remove grounded and submerged vessels that pose threats to commercial traffic on the lower Mississippi.
"This is a massive recovery effort and we are doing our part to ensure that the commerce that sustains our Nation can continue to flow freely and safely over our critical waterways," Coast Guard captain-of-the-port for the Port of New Orleans said in the release.
The recovery effort began with Coast Guard post-storm assessments of the Mississippi and intra-coastal waterways along the Gulf of Mexico after hurricane Ida passed through the area.
Ida made landfall on Sunday as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 miles per home that pummeled the states of Louisiana and Mississippi and ended up dumping torrents of rain on the US east coast. The reported death toll from the weather system has gone into the dozens.
