BATON ROUGE, La. – The Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced today that the Plaquemine/Sunshine ferry landing will be closed for 4 to 6 weeks while crews repair both vessels and landing barges, which sustained damage during Hurricane Gustav.

The M/V Iberville took on water during the storm, the M/V New Roads sustained damage to its rudder, and both landing barges sustained structural and electrical system damages.

DOTD also announced changes to ferry service at three other Mississippi River ferry landings because of a shortage of licensed marine engineers needed to operate the ferries.

The White Castle/Carville landing and the Edgard/Reserve landings will remain shut down. The New Roads/St. Francisville ferry, which used to run 4 a.m. to midnight 7-days a week, will now run 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

These changes at the above mentioned landings will remain in effect until DOTD has the required number of licensed marine engineers to safely operate the ferries at these landings at full capacity.

DOTD continues to try to hire licensed marine engineers to fill vacant positions. Anyone interested in learning more about the marine engineer position can visit the DOTD Web site at http://www.dotd.la.gov/ and click on the Employment Section on the left side menu of the main page or contact Kevin Reed at (225) 379-1916.

Before traveling, drivers should call the Ferry Toll-Free Information line at 1-888-613-3779 for the status of the ferry, or visit the "Ferry Status" page on the right-hand side of the DOTD Web site.