taking your RV on a boat down the Mississipi to New Orleans

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
If they were letting more than six people per barge travel that way, they would be afoul of Coast Guard regs.
Vessels having more than six passengers are required to meet a long list of additional regs. This is why small fishing charters are always advertised for 6 or fewer.

This is the real issue. Up to 6 passengers, it's the most basic captains license required and the vessel doesn't have to be inspected. Helps keep the cost down for someone setting up a charter business.

Above that a host of rules come into play that would be difficult to impossible meet on a typical barge.

I was following a blog a few years back where they took a Class C on the Amazon via a barge (part of driving the Pan American Highway). They diverted to Manaus and then to a barge down to Belem. Of course, the rules there were much more loosey goosey.

The reason they shut that down was the thought of a large RV loaded with Ammonium Nitrate/Fuel Oil exploding under a major bridge. Think of the Oklahoma City bombing.

DW and I were visiting New Orleans in 1998 (before we had an RV) and saw a barge loaded with RVs. After buying our first RV in 2007, we decided to do that barge thing. We discovered that it was no longer available.

I always wanted to do that and the RV canyon train trip thru Mexico. Both shut down before I retired.

There are tons of barges and tow boats in this area that could be used for this purpose. Liability issues and regulations is what brought this business to It's knees. Since we have plenty of car and truck ferries it is not impossible to overcome the so called 6 person limit. By the time the total investment was made few if any wanted to pay the bill. Tow boats have to sTay busy to make money.

If they were letting more than six people per barge travel that way, they would be afoul of Coast Guard regs.
Vessels having more than six passengers are required to meet a long list of additional regs. This is why small fishing charters are always advertised for 6 or fewer.
Additionally, most barges with a solid (non opening) upper deck are bulk liquid carriers, The most common bulk liquid?
Oil, or petroleum products with another set of regs including no open flames or sources of ignition.
There are some used for non petroleum liquids, molasses, and soybean oil as an example, but even then you still have the 6 passenger max issue.

Sounds fun! And very befitting post for someone with the handle Mark Twain.
I believe regs prohibit it. We’ve ferried with a RV and it’s strictly no acess to the RV and all systems shut down. Safety hazard of potentially someone’s ill maintained or rigged systems burning the ship down.

I saw it one time years ago on the Tennessee River when I was a boater. When we switched to an RV, I looked for info in it, and it seems they have all shut down, rumor has it the Coast Guard added some regulations and made it to difficult to make money.

The US Coast Guard shut them down in late 90's or very early 2000's.

That might be fun !