Mississippi River Reopens After Low Water Closures

The Mississippi River - © Chimpy—iStock/Getty Images

Two stretches of the southern Mississippi River were reopened to commercial traffic last week after dredging operations deepened the navigation channel near Memphis, Tennessee, and Stack Island, Mississippi, said the U.S. Coast Guard last Monday (10).

Mississippi River & USA tracked via ShipXplorer.com. 

The main waterway had been closed to boat traffic at both locations since at least last week after several barges and boats hit the bottom of the drought-dried river.

The closures disrupted the flow of freshly harvested grain from Midwestern farms to export terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast, where about 60 percent of corn, soybean, and wheat exports left the country and also shipments of road salt, fertilizer, and other goods to the northern United States were also disrupted by the closure.

A queue of 22 tugboats carrying 392 barges was waiting to pass through a section of the river near Stack Island on Monday morning. Still, the line northbound was cleared, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Graves.

According to the National Weather Service's river forecast, the Mississippi River will recede to multi-year lows over the next two weeks, possibly challenging a record low water set in October 1988, affecting barge traffic.

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