(4)	Impairment of Long-lived Assets

During the fourth quarter of 2018, the Company recorded a $82,705,000 non-cash pre-tax impairment charge. The after-tax effect of the charge was $65,337,000 or $1.09 per share. The USCG adopted regulations on ballast water management systems (“BWMS”) establishing a standard for the allowable concentration of living organisms in certain vessel ballast water discharged in waters of the United States under the National Invasive Species Act. The regulations include requirements for the installation of engineering equipment to treat ballast water by establishing an approval process for BWMS. The USCG has approved manufacturers’ systems that met the regulatory discharge standard equivalent to the International Maritime Organization’s D-2 standard. The phase-in schedule for those existing vessels requiring a system to install BWMS equipment is dependent on vessel build date, ballast water capacity, and drydock schedule. Compliance with the ballast water treatment regulations requires the installation of equipment on some of the Company’s vessels to treat ballast water before it is discharged. The installation of BWMS equipment will require significant capital expenditures at the next scheduled drydocking to complete the installation of the approved system on those existing vessels that require a system to complay with the BWMS regulations.

Due to the advanced age of four of the Company’s older articulated tank barge and tugboat units (“ATBs”) and the high cost of installation of BWMS, the Company will retire the ATBs at their next scheduled shipyard dates which range between 2020 and 2023 instead of installing the expensive BWMS equipment required to operate the vessels past their next required shipyard dates. A pre-tax impairment charge of $78,835,000 was incurred in the fourth quarter of 2018 to reduce the ATBs to a fair value of $13,247,000 due to reduced estimated cash flows resulting from reduced lives on these four older ATBs. The reduced estimated useful lives are due to the assessment of the impact of the new regulations by USCG that require the installation of BWMS. The fair value of the four ATBs of $13,247,000 is presented in marine transportation equipment at December 31, 2018.

The impairment charge also included a pre-tax charge of $3,870,000 as the Company reduced the carrying value of its improvements in a leased barge to its scrap value of $220,000. As part of a lease termination, the Company agreed to terminate the lease, purchase the barge and then scrap the barge which resulted in the Company committing to put the barge up for sale in December 2018. The barge was scrapped in January 2019. The fair market value of the barge was $220,000 at December 31, 2018, and was presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets. In addition, the Company incurred $2,403,000 in lease cancellation costs in December 2018 related to the leased barge.

During the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company recorded a $105,712,000 non-cash pre-tax impairment charge. The after-tax effect of the charge was $66,975,000 or $1.20 per share. The impairment charge was to reduce certain vessels to a fair value of $12,550,000 as the Company decided to put certain older out-of-service vessels up for sale in its marine transportation segment in response to lower equipment utilization, pricing pressure and expensive BWMS installations required in the next few years on some of the coastal tank barges. Retiring some of the older coastal marine vessels reduces the fleet’s age profile and improves the efficiency of the fleet. The fair market value of the vessels was $12,550,000 at December 31, 2017, and was presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets.