Buffalo Marine Service News

The members of the American Waterways Operators, the national tugboat, towboat and barge industry association, elected a new slate of leaders earlier this month during the association's annual Spring Convention held in Washington, D.C. Scott Merritt, former Chief Operating Officer for Foss Maritime Company, LLC, was elected Chairman. Arthur F. Mead, Vice President and General Counsel at Crowley Maritime Corporation, was elected Vice Chairman. Mr. Merritt succeeds outgoing Chairman Tom Marian…

One Year After Hurricane Harvey, AWO Chairman Touts Houston Recovery; Tugboat, Towboat and Barge Industry Resiliency.During their recent 2018 Fall Convention in Houston, the members of The American Waterways Operators, the national trade association representing the U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge industry, heard from AWO Chairman and Houston resident Tom Marian, General Counsel at Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., who reflected on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Harvey making landfall and the resiliency of both the City of Houston and the tugboat, towboat and barge industry nationwide.

San Jacinto College and the Seamen’s Church Institute will host e-Navigation Underway (North America) 2016, the third in the annual North American series of conferences focusing upon the development and application of e-navigation. The event will be held at the San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and Training Center, La Porte, Texas, a new facility that opened in Spring of this year. e-Navigation is an initiative of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the goal of which is to provide a decision support environment for the maritime community.

LNG America announced it has entered an agreement with Buffalo Marine Service, Inc. (Buffalo Marine) to cooperate on the design of an LNG bunker fuel network for the U. S. Gulf Coast region. LNG America is developing a hub-and-spoke delivery system for LNG as fuel for the marine market and other high horsepower applications. Ultimately, LNG America will establish delivery infrastructure for the delivery of LNG as fuel in major U.S. ports. Bunkering company Buffalo Marine presently has more than 50 vessels dedicated to bunkering in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced that Buffalo Marine Service of Houston successfully tested its FuelTrax bunkering system on a delivery of 1,500 metric tons of IFO 500 to Maersk Wyoming, a 292-meter container ship operated by Maersk Line, the liner shipping activity of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group (MAERSKB:Copenhagen). The test took place on August 26, 2009 at Barbours Cut terminal at the Port of Houston. The crew of Buffalo 401k pumped at the rate of 250 metric tons per hour, with accuracy measured to less than 0.1% between the barge and the ship. Accuracy was verified by Maersk Wyoming’s own in-line mass flow meter. The FuelTrax-based system provides real-time measurement of bunker deliveries irrespective of product type, viscosity, or temperature.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced that Buffalo Marine Service of Houston is rolling out an advanced bunker fuel measurement system to support customers along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Part of the FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system, this new feature provides a data acquisition and reporting tool designed to automatically measure bunker fuel as it is pumped from a barge onto a vessel. FuelTrax should provide real-time measurement of bunker fuel deliveries irrespective of product type, viscosity, or temperature. More importantly, the system was developed to accurately measure barrels and metric tons regardless of the presence of air, fuel, or both in the piping system.

Pictured is Sheamus Keehan and Marco Galizioli, Manager Americas, Operation Technical HS&E, SMP U.S. present Shell’s “Safety @ Heart” Award plaque to Pat Studdert, Pres., Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., Houston. Shell Marine Products recognized Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., Houston when they announced Buffalo as the recipient of Shell’s “Safety @ Heart” Award (2004) in the ‘Best Barge Contractor” category. The nomination and selection was worldwide in scope. Mr. Michiel Kool, Chief Executive Officer…

Buffalo Marine Service, Inc., a full-service marine fuel bunkering company serving the Gulf Coast, recently christened the newest of its nine-boat fleet, at its offices on the original Buffalo Bayou in the Port of Houston, said Patrick Suddert, president of Buffalo Marine. San Joaquin, which cost $1.35 million, joins sister vessels San Leandro and San Rafael as part of the youngest and newest bunker fleet in the nation. The fleet also includes six other similar towboats and 17 tank barges. The fleet refuels ships in the ports of Houston, Galveston, Texas City, Freeport, Port Arthur, Beamont, Orange, Lake Charles and Corpus Christi. “We are very excited to put our new tug into service,” Studdert said.