Climate War on Waterways

By Felicity Landon

From Issue 5 of Breakbulk Magazine, we examine claims that climate change presents challenges to future moves of project cargo by inland waterways, and how authorities are planning ahead to mitigate risks and ensure continuity of operations for breakbulk transportation.


What are the implications of climate change? First, the ‘opportunity’ – there is more pressure to seek ‘green’ transport modes, shifting transport away from land to water. But second, there is the ‘challenge’ – climate change is bringing droughts and floods that lead to extreme changes in water levels.

This year, PIANC, the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure, launched a new technical working group to consider the necessary adaptation of inland waterways infrastructure for climate change impact. The terms of reference note: “The need for adaptation of inland waterways systems is obvious given the climate change that has occurred already, along with the near-term changes that are expected to happen.”

It will be necessary to adapt both structures and operations – and in some cases even the waterways themselves, it said. This includes increasing resiliency to ‘extreme boundary conditions.’

While extreme low and high flow conditions will be a particular focus of the working group, the scope of work is likely also to include issues such as changes in between low and high flow conditions, modification of rainfall regime, flooding, sediment dynamics and salinity.

PIANC strongly believes in working with nature and taking a ‘win-win’ approach, taking into account the industry and economy of countries, but also the environment and the population/social aspect, said Philippe Rigo, chairperson of PIANC’s inland navigation commission (InCom). “It is very important when we launch any project, we should try to get benefit on the three levels.”

Climate change is already having an effect. For example, in the extreme floods in Italy in June 2023 and those in Belgium two years ago, Rigo said. “This means that we have to in some way raise some banks to protect cities and villages; we cannot think only about business or fish and flowers. For inland navigation, that is a big concern – how we should manage that.”

He also stressed the need to think 20 or 30 years in advance because this is likely to require work such as raising banks, fixed dams and locks and installing surge barriers. Wholesale replacement of structures would cost billions. The working group will also consider whether a good response is to raise or adapt existing structures as an interim measure to see if this will be sufficient.

Who pays for what is another question, without any uniform answers. “Very often central governments say ‘this is not our business’ and the local authority doesn’t have the money, so that is definitely a problem. If they don’t have the money, they cannot maintain hundreds of kilometers of banks, so there will have to be a compromise with some money from the private sector to maintain rivers for operations.


The Problem in North America

Taking account of climate change and managing changing river conditions will be an ongoing issue, said Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO of the American Waterways Operators, or AWO.

“However, whether we are talking water depths of rivers or dealing with hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, ours is an industry that is used to operating in a dynamic environment – and we have learned from experience.”

In the autumn of 2022, water levels on the Mississippi river system were their lowest for several decades, she said, “but one of the interesting and positive things is that despite very serious and problematic conditions, we were able to keep commerce going.

“Load sizes had to be reduced along with the number of barges [fewer alongside each other], drafts, etc., but we were able to keep things moving. That was because the industry, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Corps of Engineers, who is responsible for dredging, had learned from previous experience, including through river training exercises.”

The Coast Guard was quick to set out buoys to mark reduced navigation channels; the Corps of Engineers quickly deployed dredgers where needed; good passing agreements were in place and operators used fewer barges and loaded them to less depth, Carpenter said. “So, it’s a three-part partnership.”

There are areas on the river that can be more prone to shoaling and buildup, which was much more of an issue with low water. However, another issue was that while the Corps did a good job keeping the navigation channel open, the limiting factor was shoaling in ports and terminals. “So, lesson learned; it was like clearing the road of snow, but you can’t get out of your driveway.” There is shared responsibility when it comes to terminals, she said, “but a definite need for equipment funding.”

The AWO has been working with the Corps and Coast Guard for several years on waterways action plans for different segments of waterways.

“They are basically planning guides; when the river gauge gets to X, then we consider or discuss taking these particular actions. It is not meant to relieve anybody of the burden of thinking, but it is meant to be – here’s a plan, when this happens, we should really consider that.”

Inland waterways are well suited to the issues that we are facing and will continue to face in terms of climate change, sustainability, and the desire to move cargo off the roads and railways and away from population centers, Carpenter said.

“Will we have challenges to manage this? Absolutely. But I am an optimist as well as a realist. No question, climate change is causing bigger variations in river conditions. But I feel that over the past few years there has been a recognition of the importance of inland waterway transportation, and that has been positive. We need to make sure we are taking care of and maximizing this resource.”

There is a recognition that waterways don’t maintain themselves, she said. “The dialogue is very good, but we have to continue getting better. There are going to be ongoing needs for dredging, for deployment of aids to navigation and we need to be able to shift and adjust course nimbly.”

A positive step is the Coast Guard’s acquisition program to replace its fleet of old buoy tenders – the first of these ‘waterway commerce cutters’ is expected to arrive in 2025.

Meanwhile, there are safety issues to be addressed, Carpenter said. “There are bridges in some places that are an obstruction to navigation. There are bridges that open but don’t necessarily open when they are supposed to. There have been a couple of near misses when a bridge got lowered and a vessel was damaged. When owners/operators want to open bridges remotely, that is a whole other level of challenge. We must make sure this is really working that everyone is safe and that we are keeping navigation flowing.”


Importance of Waterways

The Balena Group, based in Calgary, uses inland waterways in Europe and North America. The group also has offices in Maple Ridge (Canada), Houston, Baku and the UAE. Maple Ridge, covering North America, and Baku, covering Central Asia, are the two major operational hubs.

Recent experience has included offloading project cargo from an ocean vessel to a barge in Lake Ontario, to head into downtown Ontario, as well as using inland waterways on the Pacific side to reach destinations around Vancouver Island and nearby areas.

“We have handled a lot of projects via waterway, such as a cement plant operation, paper production and LNG,” said Emin Calil, senior vice president operations at Balena Group. “Our destinations also cover the U.S. – we recently delivered a project for Cleveland, from Cleveland Port in Lake Erie, while in the Gulf, Houston is very important for inland waterway transport,” he added.

Whenever a load is close to 200 tonnes – or more – or has a diameter upwards of 6 meters, the Balena team looks into using barge transport if and where possible, Calil said.

“The reason is simple – the carbon footprint is important for a lot of customers, and we like to support them on that agenda. Also, it is important for lessening the risks of getting stuck somewhere due to Department of Transportation [road] restrictions. If you are using an SPMT for high and super heavy cargo, then your cargo becomes one meter-plus higher and with the risk of getting closer to high-voltage power lines, which are not easy to work around.

"Current can jump on a rainy day and power companies are not keen to decrease voltage. Also, there are always underground structures, gas pipelines etc., to be considered when crossing them with a heavy weight. So if we can find a solution that is cheaper, faster, less risk-free and produces less emissions, it actually helps our customer. Barging in these kinds of situations would become paramount.”

Balena hires naval architects and other specialists to calculate the parameters around barge size, ballasting, draft and positioning of cargo to pass through channels safely in any region, Calil said. “We are getting into problem situations more often than we used to. The past five or six years, we have needed to consider climate change impacts pretty much with every barge transportation.

“When waters are high, you need to find the right balance between putting the operation under risk and the risk of hitting a bridge and damaging bridge or cargo.”

At the opposite extreme, when handling a project recently in a very dry season, Balena found a workaround by hiring a bigger barge than planned, to spread the weight so that the barge did not hit the riverbed.

“This is where we always want to think about Plan A and Plan B and have those plans ready,” Calil said. “If we know the rainy season is coming soon, we ask the customer to give the soonest pick-up from the terminal, explaining that in very high water levels the cargo would otherwise have to wait. Instead of putting yourself into the situation of counting the days, we suggest they give us longer lead times – we make sure the barge is at our disposal and ready to collect the cargo in advance.”

Responding to these uncertainties also involves talking with vendors, including ocean carriers, truckers, and barge operators, he said. “We need their support with standby hours, detention, demurrage issues, etc. It depends on how you build your relationships with your vendors, and it depends on mutual respect and support.”

The project industry has the benefit of professional people who do support each other, Calil added. “It is a very close circuit in the world where people know each other for years and support each other. The magic words are ‘We are going to work with you’.”


Energy Saved

Statistics show that the quantity of energy consumed in inland waterway transport is less than 30 percent of that used in road transport, according to project specialist deugro. “Compared to other modes of transportation, using inland waterways causes less environmental pollution, including noise and carbon emissions,” said a spokesperson. “The fact that heavy and oversized cargo can be transported with great ease is another important factor for project logistics.”

Inland waterways play a vital role in the local infrastructure in some regions of South America, said the spokesperson. “The north of Brazil is one of them. The Amazon River has sufficient draft to allow multipurpose vessels to sail upstream from Manaus but costs have to be considered.

"From the view of the carrier, Manaus is a large deviation from their general port calls along the Brazilian coast. The navigation up the Amazon River from Belem to Manaus, plus discharge operations and plus the return to Belem can easily add another 12 days to the voyage plan. Hence, their overall expenses are high and must be considered on top of the high pilotage fees.”

Taking all of this into account, the barging option from Belem is a true alternative for smaller breakbulk cargoes, said the spokesperson. “Furthermore, one has to consider the poor road infrastructure in the region. Especially for remote jobs, there is no feasible other way to reach the location than by inland waterway.”

deugro had to adapt plans quickly when transporting two 108-tonne gensets to a thermal power plant 500 kilometers north of Manaus. The original plan was to truck the gensets from Manaus to the job site but due to intense rains in the region, historic flooding significantly damaged the roads heading north. Instead, the cargo was transferred to a deck barge at Belem to head upriver.

“We were forced to change the transport planning to a hybrid solution, barging the cargo on a second leg up to a small local port close to the job site. From there, we managed to transport the cargo by road. This was the only solution possible because all the rivers were carrying a lot of water – otherwise there would not have been enough draft.”


Flexibility is Key

Delivering a tunnel boring machine into the Cleveland areas required an unusual degree of flexibility for Balena Projects.

The plan was to deliver the cargo to the final site via the River Cuyahoga from Lake Erie. However, the river narrows at the disembarking location, where the cargo would be rolled off the vessel. The size of the barge required, coupled with the fact that it had to be stationed perpendicular to the bank for roll-off operations, meant that it would occupy up to 70 percent of the width of the river, preventing other barges or vessels from passing through. “After a long conversation, we got support from the authorities and neighborhood for an agreement that we could use the disembarking jetty, but we would receive a notice by radio when another vessel was coming up or down the river,” Calil said.

“Then we needed to drop everything, stop the offloading process and turn the barge parallel to the riverbank to allow the river vessel past. It’s a good example of people working with each other – and huge respect to the community who allowed that and trusted that we were not going to delay anyone. We had to turn that barge three times during the day but finally we offloaded everything in good order.”

He added: “We are project people. We always think about the solution and always work with people to find those solutions.”
 

PHOTOS
TOP: Balena transports cargo in Toronto. CREDIT: Balena Group
SECOND: Balena barge operations in Cleveland. CREDIT: Balena Group
THIRD: deugro, loading Chandra Pluto barge. CREDIT: deugro