Pilots from two state pilot associations said they have not seen any reduction in the number of foreign ship calls on the Lower Mississippi River since the Trump administration began putting pressure on the United States’ trading partners, reports The Waterways Journal Weekly.
Capt. Stephen Hathorn of the New Orleans/Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association (NOBRA) and Capt. Mike Popp of the Crescent River Port Pilots Association both said foreign-flag ship calls have remained steady in recent months.
“China has a lot of people, and they need to eat,” Popp added. Any grain customers who took their business to Argentina will probably be returning, because “Argentina had a terrible year” harvesting crops, he explained.
