Nola Who Works The Rivers Draws Record Participation

RiverWorks Discovery hosted a Who Works the Rivers maritime career discovery day November 20 in New Orleans, with a record number 210 local high school students participating. The event was held jointly at the Port of New Orleans, Crescent Towing’s base of operations in Algiers and Ingram Barge Company’s Triangle Fleet in Reserve, La. Schools and educational organizations in attendance included Junior Achievement, Job Ready, New Orleans Maritime and Military Academy, St. Bernard Parish schools, Warren Easton High School in New Orleans, and East St. John High School.

Sponsors and presenters included AccuTRANS, ADM/ARTCO, American Commercial Barge Line, Associated Terminals, Benedetto’s Market, CGB, Canal Barge Company, Cargill, Cooper/T. Smith, Cooper Consolidated, Crescent Towing, Delgado Community College, Harbor Towing & Fleeting, Ingram Barge Company, Louisiana CAT, Maritime Throwdown, Mississippi Valley Trade & Transport Council, the NOBRA Pilots, the ports of New Orleans and South Louisiana, Octopus Towing, Shamrock Marine, Team Services, The Seamen’s Church Institute, Turn Services, University of New Orleans Transportation Institute, U.S. Coast Guard, the Women in Maritime Operations (WIMOs) Association, and Zito Companies LLC.

Students had the opportunity to tour Crescent Towing’s tug Mardi Gras, view an interactive presentation introducing them to the maritime industry, and visit stations outside the Port of New Orleans office that gave them a taste of career opportunities on the nation’s waterways. Students got to experience throwing lines and building tow, trying on personal protective equipment and learning about commodities moved on the nation’s waterways. In so doing, they had the chance to catch a vision for opportunities that await them after high school.

As they went from station to station, students were able to see ships sailing under the Crescent City Connection Bridge, while a port-owned dredge was at work and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad engines rumbled up and down the nearby track. Moored on the river were a Harbor Towing & Fleeting towboat and, just down from the port complex, the Queen of the Mississippi riverboat.

Caption for photo (click on photo for uncropped version): Among the presenters at RiverWorks Discovery’s Who Works The Rivers event in New Orleans, Craig Broussard of ADM/ARTCO urged students to earn their high school diploma and consider a maritime career. (Photo by Frank McCormack)