Debt Obligations (Narrative) (Details) ¥ in Billions				1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Nov. 16, 2015 USD ($) loan	Apr. 24, 2015 JPY (¥)	Apr. 24, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) agreement	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) loan item agreement	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 12, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 04, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 26, 2014 USD ($)
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Number of secured financing agreements | agreement					6		6
Long-term debt reclassified to current					$ 156,800,000		$ 156,800,000
Debt issuance costs							3,000,000	$ 2,900,000
Long term debt carrying amount					159,844,000		159,844,000	242,888,000
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt							(585,000)	(225,000)
Deferred debt issuance costs reclassified from deferred charges, net					3,037,000		3,037,000	2,870,000
Total amount paid off							12,500,000	23,000,000
Forecasted as of June 30, 2016 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long term debt carrying amount					100,000,000		100,000,000
Forecasted as of June 30, 2016 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long term debt carrying amount					$ 110,000,000		$ 110,000,000
Previously Reported Forecasted Range [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long term debt carrying amount												$ 85,000,000
Previously Reported Forecasted Range [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long term debt carrying amount												$ 95,000,000
Originally Intended To Monetize [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Equity investee ownership interest					100.00%		100.00%
DVB Bank SE [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Number of loan facilities | loan	2
Percentage of debt to be paid down from proceed of asset sold	100.00%
Ownership interest in wholly-owned Singapore subsidiaries to be pledged	65.00%
Increase in interest rate margins per annum	2.00%
Increase in quarterly principal payment amounts	$ 222,000
Debt instrument amendment description							significant amendments included (i) requiring us to apply the proceeds from the sale of one of our PCTCs to pay down 100% of the debt owned under one facility of approximately $30.2 million and $912,000 of the debt owed under the other facility, (ii) pledging under certain circumstances 65% of our shares of our wholly-owned Singapore subsidiaries to DVB Bank SE, (iii) increasing the interest rate by 2%, (iv) increasing by approximately $222,000 our quarterly principal payments and (v) specifying various dates (ranging from December 2015 through March 2016) by which our sale of non-core assets must be completed and at specified amounts.
RBS Asset Finance [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Increase in interest rate margins per annum	1.00%
Loan-to-value ratio	75.00%
Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Long term debt carrying amount					$ 31,000,000		$ 31,000,000	$ 38,500,000
Percent of the proceeds of issuances of equity interests received							100.00%
Debt instrument effective interest rate percentage					9.44%		9.44%	3.91%
Regions Bank [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Consolidated leverage ratio							5.00%
Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Minimum Liquidity Amount	$ 30,000,000
Long term debt covenant minimum liquidity amount	30,000,000
Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member] | Next twelve months [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Increase in scheduled payments	$ 3,000,000
ING Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Increase in interest rate margins per annum	2.00%
Increase in quarterly principal payment amounts	$ 625,000
Debt instrument amendment description							significant amendments included (i) increasing by approximately $625,000 our quarterly principal payments, (ii) increasing our interest rate margin by approximately 2% per annum, (iii) modifying the manner in which we will be required to pay down debt owed under the facility upon the sale of assets comprising collateral under the facility, including requiring any excess proceeds to be applied to pay off the other tranches at the discretion of the facility's agent, (iv) providing credit enhancements of equal value to those afforded by us to our other creditors, (v) prohibiting the payment of common stock dividends, (vi) prohibiting the payment of preferred stock dividends without the written consent from the lender, (vii) requiring the preparation of a financial plan acceptable to the facility agent in its sole discretion, and (viii) specifying various amounts and dates in December 2015 by which our sale of non-core assets must be completed.
Loan Agreement [Member] | DVB Bank SE [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount															$ 38,500,000
Debt instrument effective interest rate percentage											6.35%				4.35%
Final quarterly balloon payment															$ 20,700,000
Loan Agreement [Member] | RBS Asset Finance [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount														$ 23,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit					$ 31,000,000		$ 31,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Reduce aggregate revolving commitment	1,800,000
Senior Secured Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument amendment description							significant amendments to our Senior Credit Facility with Regions Bank included (i) accelerating the facility's maturity date from September 24, 2018 to July 20, 2017, (ii) reducing the Letter of Credit Sublimit from $20.0 million to $7.2 million initially and to lower amounts at future dates, (iii) prohibiting us from issuing new letters of credit without the lenders' consent, (iv) reducing the Aggregate Revolving Commitment by $1.8 million, (v) increasing the applicable margins for all Loans, Letter of Credit Fees and Commitment Fees set to 9.25% from the effective date of the amendment through June 30, 2016, and 10.0% from July 1, 2016 through the maturity date, (vi) increasing our scheduled payments for the next twelve months by $3.0 million and mandating certain specified mandatory prepayments, (vii) prohibiting us from paying common stock dividends unless we have at least $30.0 million of liquidity (as defined in the credit facility) after making the payment, (viii) prohibiting us from paying preferred stock dividends prior to January 29, 2016 or paying preferred stock dividends thereafter unless various financial conditions are met, (ix) prohibiting us from making any further payments to construct our New Orleans headquarters, except to the extent financed by the general contractor, and (x) amending certain of our financial covenants, effective as of June 30, 2016, and amending certain of our other loan covenants to further restrict our operations, effective immediately.
Loan Facility I [Member] | DVB Bank SE [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Repayments of debt	30,200,000
Loan Facility II [Member] | DVB Bank SE [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Repayments of debt	912,000,000,000
New Loan Agreement [Member] | DVB Bank SE [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt issuance costs			$ 600,000
Debt instrument principal amount			32,000,000										$ 32,000,000
Related debt paid off		¥ 2.9	24,000,000
Amount of Yen denominated foreign forward exchange contract settled			4,000,000
Amount of Yen denominated interest rate swap settled			$ 2,900,000
Debt instrument effective interest rate percentage			4.16%
Term for principal to be paid quarterly							5 years
Amortization period							10 years
Final quarterly balloon payment			$ 16,800,000
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt			$ 300,000
Guarantees [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Number of guaranteed separate loan facilities of two separate shipping companies | loan							2
Guarantees [Member] | Loan Facility I [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Wholly-owned subsidiary indirect equity ownership							25.00%
Amount owed under the loan facility guaranteed percent							5.00%
Guarantee obligation amount					3,400,000		$ 3,400,000	$ 3,800,000
Guarantees [Member] | Loan Facility II [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Wholly-owned subsidiary indirect equity ownership							23.70%
Guarantee obligation amount					1,000,000		$ 1,000,000
Borrowings under guaranteed investment agreements					11,000,000		11,000,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity									$ 20,000,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity	$ 7,200,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member] | November 13, 2015 through June 30, 2016 [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility commitment fees	9.25%
Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | Regions Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member] | July 1, 2016 through July 20, 2017 [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility commitment fees	10.00%
Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit					7,200,000		7,200,000
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity					7,200,000		7,200,000			$ 20,000,000
Swingline Loans [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity					5,000,000		$ 5,000,000			$ 5,000,000
Handysize Vessel [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Related debt paid off						$ 13,500,000
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt						$ 95,000
Number of vessels sold | item						1
Handysize Vessel [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Related debt paid off				$ 25,100,000
Number of vessels sold | item				2
Pure Car Truck Carriers [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Number of vessels sold | item							1
Pure Car Truck Carriers [Member] | DVB Bank SE [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt							$ 130,000
Repayments of debt	$ 31,300,000
Net proceeds from sale of vessels	15,400,000
Supramax Vessel [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt					(100,000)
Supramax Vessel [Member] | ING Bank [Member] | Credit Facility Amendment [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt							100,000
Repayments of debt	$ 11,300,000
Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity					71,300,000		$ 71,300,000
Minimum EBITDAR to fixed charge coverage ratio							1.05%
Minimum Liquidity Amount							$ 20,000,000
Consolidated minimum net worth							$ 228,000,000
Consolidated net income earned							50.00%
Long term debt covenant minimum liquidity amount							$ 20,000,000
Credit Facility [Member] | Revolving Credit Facility [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit facility borrowing capacity					38,200,000		38,200,000
Credit Facility [Member] | Term Loan [Member] | Regions Bank [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Debt instrument principal amount					$ 33,100,000		$ 33,100,000