Weekly News Summary for December 10-16, 2007:
Ingram Barge company and Jamesbuilt LLC announced December 3 that Jamesbuilt will construct up to 20 new 10,000-barrel double-skin tank barges for Ingram.
The purchase will expand Ingram’s tank barge fleet by about 10 percent, and is the largest new-construction addition to the company’s tank-barge fleet since 1976.
Ingram has been operating tank barges since the mid-1940s, although it has traditionally been a smaller component of the company’s business. Currently, Ingram owns and operates nearly 200 tank barges, which provide service for many oil and chemical companies.
Dan Martin, Ingram senior vice president and chief commercial officer, said delivery of the new state-of-the-art tank barges will occur over a 30-month period beginning in 2008….
Blessey Marine Services Inc. has announced the signing of a multi-year contract with R & R Marine Fabrication & Drydock in Port Arthur, Texas, to construct up to 24 tank barges. The barges will measure 297.5 by 54 by 13 feet and have a capacity of 30,000 barrels.
“With the backlog for tank barges at the two major shipyards stretching into 2010, we are excited to partner with R & R to construct these barges,” said Walter E. Blessey Jr., owner and chief executive officer of Blessey Marine. “We have enjoyed using the shipyard for maintenance and repair, and appreciate the high quality of work they perform.”
The first barge is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2008, with succeeding barges to follow every two weeks….
A Massachusetts-based company wants to turn the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans into a new source of power.
Free Flow Power Corporation plans to install turbines to produce power for utility companies who turn around and sell the power to consumers.
“The general area this falls under is hydrokinetics, an ancient concept that waterwheels have been in place without dams for years. Hydrokinetic power has been underway for the last 10 years,” said Free Flow Power Corporation (FFP) Chief Executive Officer Dan Irvine.
FFP is developing a turbine that operates in a lower-pressure environment.
The company is in the beginning stages of receiving permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission….
Greenstreet Equity Partners LP completed its purchase of TECO Transport Corporation from TECO Energy December 5. The transaction amount was $405 million, subject to the final adjustment of net working capital, TECO Energy said in an announcement.
TECO Transport and its subsidiaries were renamed to United Maritime Group. The affiliated companies are U.S. United Barge Line (formerly TECO Barge Line), U.S. United Inland Services (formerly TECO Marine Services), U.S. United Bulk Terminal (Formerly TECO Bulk Terminal), U.S. United Bulk Logistics (formerly TECO Global Logistics) and U.S. United Ocean Services (formerly TECO Ocean Shipping).
United Maritime Group handles coal, petroleum coke, phosphate, grain and other bulk commodities domestically and internationally….
The navigation industry is concerned with how a new marina development at Mile 469.3 on the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio will affect the navigation channel due to a number of safety issues.
“It’s not that we don’t support the marina. We welcome anyone to the river, because it’s out there for everyone: pleasure craft or commercial vessels alike,” said Richard Kern, manager, vessel operations for Ingram Barge Company and navigation committee chairman for the Huntington District Waterways Association.
The Southshore Marina will be built near a high-traffic area just above the Cincinnati bridges on the left descending shore.
Between miles 469-473 in Cincinnati, commercial vessels are required to transit a narrow channel, complicated by six bridges, blind turns and limited bridge-to-bridge communications.
For the most part, it’s one-way traffic, Kern said. Adding pleasure craft to the mix creates a challenge for any captain or pilot attempting to transit the area safely. Many times a wheelhouse officer will extend his lookout by placing additional crewmembers in specific locations, which used to be called “bird watching,” Kern said….
Continuing with its reinvestment in the future of the company through an extensive towboat refurbishment program, for one, American Commercial Lines christened another revamped vessel recently. The company held the ceremony in Jeffersonville, Ind., November 9.
The boat, renamed Miss Harriett, was formerly the Jeanne Marie, built by Marine Builders in 1980 for Archway Fleeting & Harbor Service and purchased by ACL in 1991. The christening marked the first such event at the shipyard since the towboat Jeffboat was dedicated more than 20 years ago.
The ceremony also marked “the first time ACL has recognized a woman working with the company in over 25 years,” said Jerry Linzey, senior vice president and chief operating officer.
“Miss Harriett” is Harriett Eckart, senior procurement specialist at Jeffboat. The affectionate moniker is how many suppliers and coworkers have come to call the veteran worker, who has spent 37 years with the company. She joined Jeffboat in 1970 as a clerk in the material control department, and was promoted to material control supervisor in 1980. She advanced to the position of buyer in 1984 when Jeffboat merged the material control department with the purchasing department.
The vessel’s namesake was promoted in 1998 to her current position, where her responsibilities cover a range of materials and services including all of the plate and structural steel used in the construction of barges and specialty vessels at Jeffboat….
Another veteran line haul towboat from the “fabulous fifties” is headed to South America. The latest boat to join the parade is Marquette Transportation Company’s 3,800 hp., Badger, which departed Fort Madison, Iowa, November 20 with 15 loaded barges, destined for New Orleans. Upon its arrival at New Orleans, the venerable vessel will be readied for placement aboard a ship for delivery across the equator to join a growing fleet of towboats once working along the inland waterways of the United States.
For most of its 48-year life, the Badger had routinely worked the Upper Mississippi River, shifting to the Illinois or Ohio rivers during the Upper’s annual shutdown. The close of this year’s Upper Miss navigation season also closes the final chapter on the Badger’s life as an easily recognized Upper Mississippi River workhorse.
The Badger was delivered in 1959, the last of four virtually identical, twin-screw vessels built for Mid-Continent Barge Company by St. Louis Ship, beginning with the Arrowhead and Prairie State in 1956, followed by the Hawkeye in 1957….
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