[StBernard] New Orleans' International Shipholding Corp. moving to Mobile

[Westley Annis]

The Associated Press
 
 	 	
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - International Shipholding Corp. said Monday it is moving
its headquarters and its subsidiary CG Railway operations from New Orleans
to Mobile, citing the federal government's likely closure of a southeast
Louisiana shipping channel blamed for widespread flooding after Hurricane
Katrina.
 
"Our company, unfortunately, is another victim of Hurricane Katrina,"
corporation chairman Erik F. Johnsen said in a news release. 
 
In an interview, Johnsen said about 135 people at the corporate headquarters
will be invited to move with the company to Mobile. He said the move would
most likely take place in January.
 
Congress recently authorized the spending of $3.5 million for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to draw up a plan to close the Mississippi River Gulf
Outlet - known locally as the "Mr. Go" - at least to deep draft shipping.
 
Johnsen noted that dredging of the outlet has already been suspended. This
comes as the corporation is planning to start using multideck vessels that
will not be able to traverse the outlet at its current depth of 23 feet,
Johnsen said.
 
The news release said that the corporation's barge repair operation in
Lafitte, La., will remain along with all of its 50 employees there.
 
"Our roots are in New Orleans and it pains us to leave," Johnsen said of the
business his family founded as Central Gulf Steamship Corporation in 1947.
"However, we will have a continued presence in Louisiana."
 
Mayor Ray Nagin was not immediately available for comment when his office
was contacted Monday evening.