This WINK news graphic shows the projected path of the oil that's contaminating the Gulf of Mexico. Click on the image to read the WINK news story.
“The biggest near-term risk from the oil spill is the potential for the disruption of shipping traffic in and out of the Port of New Orleans,” said the economics firm IHS Global Insight. “This could affect the barge, container and tanker traffic in the Mississippi Delta and on the Mississippi River.”
IHS Global Insight did not specify some of the ripple effects on freight networks, but disruptions at New Orleans could divert some cargoes such as export grain to other destinations.
For instance, it could push more Midwest farm shipments off barges and onto trains headed for West Coast ports, or onto ocean ships at Great Lakes ports that move into the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway. However, higher transportation costs of using alternative shipping lanes and ports could also price the loads out of the world market, delaying shipments until conditions improve.