Out in the field, on the river

Like most journalists, I’m happiest when I’m “out in the field,” learning something new about this amazing river of ours!

Last Thursday, we had the privilege of spending time with various members of the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Delaware Bay, both in their offices in South Philadelphia and on the river itself in one of its speedy small response boats.

You might remember that Delaware Currents, in the wake of the tragedy that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, investigated how many times a large ship might lose propulsion, steering or power in the Delaware River.

Turns out, it’s about once a month.

The reporter, Susanna Granieri, worked on the story for about a year, working closely with the USCG to verify the data.

Afterward, the sector commander, Capt. Kate Higgins-Bloom, and her staff invited us to spend time at the Delaware River headquarters.

The discussion was largely focused on the “prevention” side of the USCG’s mission in the Delaware River’s ports. You might recall that, taken together, those ports are one of the largest freshwater ports in the world.

That’s a lot of ships.

Checking the safety of those commercial vessels, both foreign and domestic, is the job of the Prevention Team.

On our boat trip we saw some of those huge vessels berthed at Philaport, with those equally huge Panamax cranes unloading them.

While we were talking about those huge ships, the man behind the wheel, Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Maxwell Loining, made a reassuring comment about the men and women on those ships: “They’re all professionals.”

We saw Pier 82, now empty, where the SS United States was docked for nearly 30 years. We saw the abandoned Southwark Generating Station. If you’re interested in abandoned power plants on the river, check out this story we did a couple of years back. 

And of course, the USS New Jersey, in Camden, which came back last year from its trip down river to dry dock and repairs.

The larger mission for the USCG is “to ensure our Nation’s maritime safety, security and stewardship.” Many of the 11 chief missions can overlap.

You’ll learn a lot more about the safety net that the USCG maintains for our ports in the Delaware River when Susanna’s story is published.

But I need to celebrate the folks we met and the work that they do — and of course, the boat ride!

We have two other stories for you:

The first is from a student at Rowan University, Dan Hassall. If you’ve been reading Delaware Currents, you know all about the salt line and how drought affects it, but it never hurts to have a reminder of how complicated and interesting our river is.

And related to that is an update on our watershed drought status. Like everything about the Delaware, it’s not a simple thing — and it’s not just about the rain (though we have had a lot recently with more to come!)

I hope you find the time to read, of course, but also to enjoy the fine spring weather we have — from time to time!!

Take care,

Meg