CGB/Waterfront Services Expands Operations In Cairo, Cape Girardeau
CGB/Waterfront Services has expanded operations in Cairo, Ill., and Cape Girardeau, Mo., with additional drydocks, tank barge cleaning, hull repairs, dry cargo barge cleaning, a floating crane service and small-scale topside barge repairs.
“We are always listening to our customers and looking for ways to better serve their needs,” said Allen Tappan, Waterfront Services president. “These projects originated from customer feedback and fit well within our long-term growth strategy as a company. We are very excited to have these projects finally come to fruition.”
While the company already had two drydocks in Cairo, it has now added a third, 1,500-ton model at Ohio River Mile 979.
CGB/Waterfront’s newest drydock is 150 feet long and 60 feet between the wingwalls.
The drydock, originally built in 2011 and put into service in 2012, came from Houma, La. Installation is designed to decrease the wait time for a drydock to help assist the industry with Subchapter M inspections and additional barge repairs, said Jerrod George, shipyard manager.
“We’re expecting to be able to do an additional 50 to 100 a year,” he said.
The drydock is the company’s largest in its Cairo location. Customers can also take advantage of a 165-foot-long drydock that is 55 feet between the wingalls and a 150-foot-long drydock with 45 feet between the wingwalls.
George said the drydocks provide good regional options during a time when the first vessels that received certificates of inspection (COIs) under Subchapter M will be coming up for drydock hull inspections and internal structural exams.
The company has also formed a partnership with E3 Environmental to offer tank barge cleaning and hull repairs, including vessel tank cleaning and bilge pumping in Cairo.
CGB/Waterfront Services cleaned its first barge in August.
George said the facility is ideally located.
“It’s been said that more cargo passes by Cairo than the Panama Canal,” he said.
The company offers Coast Guard-approved welding procedures for hull repairs for tank barges and already worked on dry cargo barges at the facility.
George said to look at the facility as a “one-stop shop.” “You can come here and get your barge cleaned, gas-freed and repaired all at once,” he said.
CGB/Waterfront Services took over the Cape Girardeau fleet in July 2021. The company has now added floating crane services, along with dry cargo barge cleaning, minor dockside barge repair and fiberglass cover repair at Upper Mississippi Mile 51.
George added that while many of these projects have been in planned for as long as three or four years, everything is coming together at once to provide multiple convenient options for customers just as they are considering the scope of work to be completed for upcoming drydock hull and ISE exams.
