Coastal Protection and
Restoration Authority

“The sun is shining. No clouds in the sky. There’s a gentle breeze. And the operating draft on the channel is forty feet. So I’m happy,” said Hayden, who makes sure that deep-water vessels—barges, ocean-going vessels, smaller boats—move steadily along the sixty-eight-mile Calcasieu Ship Channel, which connects the Gulf of Mexico and the Port of Lake Charles.