Verret Shipyard News

For more than 40 years, McKinney Companies has served the Gulf petroleum and dry cargo industries from its headquarters on the Mississippi River and Intracoastal Waterway. The latest addition to the towing fleet is the shiny new Mac Andrew McKinney. To power the push boat, they turned to Laborde Products to supply an S12A2 Mitsubishi engine rated 940 hp at 1,940 rpm. "We wanted a Tier II diesel engine with hydraulic governor," said Andy McKinney, VP of operations. "We also preferred to avoid the hassle of complex computers and electronics, so we chose a low-maintenance all-mechanical model.

The demand for handy sized towboats to handle inland river tows continues to grow and one of the strongest contributors to that growth is Blessey Marine. Primarily handling petroleum-related products, the firm has grown rapidly to their present fleet size of over 60 towboats with more on order. Although they have vessels ranging from 700 to 4900 HP, the 2000 HP Class is proving popular. Two recent deliveries illustrate slightly different sizes and configuration of their 2000 HP towboats. The MV Steve Scalise was built at the Verret Shipyard in Plaquemine, Louisiana to a design by the shipyard.

Most Americans will recall an iconic automobile engine from their youth. It might be an early 1950s Ford V-8 flat head or a 1970s Dodge 426 Hemi. Over the decades other engines have been added to the list. In a similar fashion mariners have identified classic marine diesels. One such is the Cummins 38-liter 2300-cu. inch engine known over the years as the KTA38. Canadian fisherman John Lenic has been running one in his 1978-built steel purse seiner Ocean Marauder. Still running on the original engine he swears by it.

The design challenge for towboats in the new Millennium is they are being called upon to do tougher jobs on the water but at the same time have be more environmentally friendly to the water on which they sail. Also, many of today's towboats are light years ahead of their predecessors of just a few years ago in crew amenities and berthing spaces. "Much of the new technology we are seeing on towboats is because of new IMO, EPA, OSHA and ABS regulations," said Terry Boffone, president of Progressive Barge Line, Westwego, La. Progressive's business is mid-streaming fueling, so careful delivery of the products they carry such as diesel fuel and gasoline from the tank barge to the ship is critical.

Ted Verret reports that his family’s Plaquamine Louisiana shipyard will be sea trialing the new Blessey Marine push boat M/V Capt. Lance Dragon next week with a scheduled February 1 delivery. The 76 x 30 x 10-ft. towboat will be powered by a pair of Cummins KTA38 M0 engines rated for 850 hp each at 1800 RPM for a total of 170 rpm. Marine gears are a pair of Reintjes WAF562 with 6:1 ratios. The busy yard already has the keel laid and bulwarks formed for a 116x32-foot towboat for the same customer. One of the assets of the Verret yard is its full service machine shop where the lathes are busy working on shafts for the yard’s own boats and for other customers that send shafts up to 32 feet by 12 inches for repair.

In mid-December, Blessey Marine of Harahan, La., took delivery of another new push boat from, the Verret Shipyard at Plaquamine, La., a few miles up river from New Orleans. A sister ship to the Jane Ann Blessey, delivered in February 2001, and the Belth Wilson, delivered in February 2002, the 2,000 hp Randy Martin is 86 x 30 x 10.6-ft. with an eight-ft. operating draft. Mitch Jones, who oversees new construction for Blessey, reports that this is the final boat in the recent build program of the rapidly growing fleet. The Randy Martin brings the company fleet to 32 tow boats and 80 barges. "That boat should be covered by the Home and Garden televison program," says Jones in reference to the superlative finish in the new boat's crew areas.