Star Fleet East Offers New Fleeting Options

Harbor Towing & Fleeting LLC will soon open Star Fleet East. The new barge fleeting facility on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway will double the company’s fleeting footprint in the New Orleans area and carry forward a family maritime legacy spanning more than 80 years.

The facility is located between Mile 9 and Mile 10, east of Harvey Lock in the Port of New Orleans, and is expected to begin operations later this month.

Designed by Waldemar S. Nelson and Company Inc. and constructed by Durward Dunn Inc., Star Fleet East includes 4,000 linear feet of fleeting space. It has 20 monopile mooring dolphins, each 54 inches in diameter and spaced 185 feet apart, along with a 470-foot center lane for tow building. Barges will be secured with synthetic mooring lines with breaking strength exceeding regulatory requirements.

The opening will bring Harbor Towing’s total fleeting capacity to 8,000 linear feet across two New Orleans facilities. Star Fleet East is modeled on the company’s flagship Star Fleet at Lower Mississippi River Mile 91 above Head of Passes on the right descending bank.

“Star Fleet East is a direct response to what our customers have asked for: more safe, reliable fleeting capacity in the Port of New Orleans,” said Todd G. Clower, Harbor Towing’s CEO and third-generation owner. “My grandfather founded this company in 1970 on a simple idea. Give barge lines a first-class New Orleans towing and fleeting operation with personal service and attention to their needs. Star Fleet East carries that vision forward on the Intracoastal Waterway.”

Clower said his family’s involvement in the barge industry began in the 1940s. His grandfather, Gerald D. Clower, started with Federal Barge Lines and eventually became an executive vice president with Dixie Carriers. He went into business for himself in the 1950s and formed the current company in 1970. Clower’s father, Gerald E. “Jerry” Clower, returned to the business in the early 1980s.

Industry involvement also has remained part of the family’s approach. G.D. Clower was a founding member of The American Waterways Operators in 1944. Todd Clower later chaired AWO’s Southern region and was elected to the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association’s board. He now serves as GICA’s chair-elect and served previously on the Maritime Navigation Safety Association (MNSA) board.

Chief Operating Officer Michael Nation is active in AWO, GICA, the Greater New Orleans Barge Fleeting Association, Waterways Council Inc. and the Propeller Club. He formerly served on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Lower Mississippi River Waterways Safety Advisory Committee. Through those roles, Harbor Towing remains actively involved in industry discussions concerning navigation, safety and waterways infrastructure.

Todd Clower joined Harbor Towing in 2009, after Hurricane Katrina had destroyed the company’s office, fleet infrastructure, systems and much of its equipment. At the time, the company operated two boats, but little else remained intact.

“We had almost nothing left,” Clower said. “My dad and I essentially rebuilt the entire company from the ground up.”

Harbor Towing reopened its fleet in 2010 and added 1,000 feet of capacity in 2013 and another 1,000 feet in 2015. Today, it employs about 35 people and operates three inland pushboats.

Clower said Star Fleet East required roughly four years of active work with the Port of New Orleans, including project review, lease negotiations and permitting through the Corps of Engineers. Planning began closer to six years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the process.

“There were a lot of hurdles, but all of that work ultimately strengthened and deepened our existing relationship with the Port of New Orleans,” Clower said.

Harbor Towing has long specialized in liquid cargo service. Its core work includes fleeting, towing and shifting around the Port of New Orleans. Its towing vessels range from Venice to Morgan City and Mobile, with occasional work as far north as Baton Rouge.

“We are ultra-focused on what we do,” Clower said. “We do shifting and fleeting, and we do it really well. I am not interested in building another fleet in Houston or owning barges.”

Chief Operating Officer Michael Nation said the company’s tank barge background shapes its operating culture. The oil majors closely monitor vessel condition, inspection records and safety management systems.

“They pay attention,” Nation said. “We may be working for a towing customer, but that barge is ultimately carrying the product of a major oil company. We must operate accordingly.”

Harbor Towing uses an ISM-based safety management system and participates in industry vetting programs, including TMSA and SIRE. Nation said its systems are comparable to those used by much larger organizations.

Additionally, the company continues to expand its dry cargo business, including steel, scrap and rock barges. Clower said Star Fleet East will provide additional capacity to support that growth.

Nation said Harbor Towing emphasizes employee development and retention. Two recently promoted captains began as deckhands and advanced through a structured, four-year wheelhouse program that included simulator assessment at Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) in Houston. The company sends wheelhouse personnel to SCI for pilothouse management training every year. Another advantage for Harbor Towing’s mariners is that crew changes are generally made at Star Fleet, allowing them to take full advantage of their time off.

Clower described the employment philosophy as “hire to retire.” The company provides safety gear and practical support while maintaining its boats and deck equipment to a high standard.

“You cannot buy the kind of experience our captains bring,” Clower said. “They understand the currents, the eddies and how the river changes at every stage. Our responsibility is to give them the tools they need to succeed — and a workplace that gives them every reason to stay.”

With Star Fleet East nearing completion, Clower said the expansion will provide additional capacity for existing customers, support Harbor Towing’s growing dry-cargo business and further strengthen the company’s towing and fleeting operations throughout the Port of New Orleans.

Featured photo caption: A line of 54-inch-diameter monopile mooring dolphins marks Harbor Towing & Fleeting LLC’s new Star Fleet East facility on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Mile 9 and Mile 10, east of Harvey Lock in the Port of New Orleans. The facility includes 4,000 linear feet of fleeting space and will double the company’s New Orleans fleeting capacity when it opens later this month. (Photo courtesy of Durward Dunn, Inc.)