Barge Tug News

The view from the Bouchard Boardroom and … beyond.The roots of the now familiar and reliable articulated tug and barge (ATB) business are deep and stretch all the way back to the 1800’s. Along the way, various patents to connect a tug and a barge with a secure mechanical connection were filed. The concept began to gather momentum in the late 1960’s when Edwin Fletcher with ARTUBAR, and the Bludworth family of flexible pushing systems were pioneering efforts to marry the economies of pushing with the safety and seakeeping inherent in mechanically linking the tug and barge at sea. Other systems were developed and tried; not all were successful.As a baseline…

The Coast Guard oversaw the refloating of a barge and tugboat Sunday near Absecon Inlet. The 77-foot Miss Katie experienced a loss of power Saturday and ran aground north of the Absecon Inlet, and the 135-foot barge drifted and ran aground on the south side of the north jetty. Personnel from Coast Guard Station Atlantic City arrived on scene Saturday, but due to weather conditions, salvage operations for the tug and barge were suspended. "Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay's Incident Management Division oversaw salvage and pollution prevention operations of the tug and barge today on Brigantine Beach, New Jersey," said Lt. j.g. Terry Plank, the federal on-scene coordinator representative. "Both the tug and barge were successfully removed from the beach and jetty respectively.

Tug Fairmount Sherpa has delivered accommodation barge Ayang 2 offshore Angola. The barge was towed from Romania to a location offshore Porto Amboim. The Ayang 2 is an accommodation and work barge owned by the offshore division of Korean group Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The 115-meter-long and 32-meter- wide barge, which can accommodate over 350 people, had undergone an upgrading at DSME’s Romanian shipyard in Mangalia, located at the Black Sea coast. For this towage job Fairmount Marine was contracted by Daewoo’s logistics team.

Inland Salvage Inc. (ISI) was recently selected as Salvor to conduct Wreck Removal Operations of a 2,650t Inland Drill Barge following an unsuccessful attempt by another contractor to salvage the barge. The barge partially capsized in Bayou Shaffer, near Morgan City, LA on September 4th, 2011. ISI provided initial emergency response, dive and lightering services after the barge capsized due to Tropical Storm Lee's storm surge. Inland Salvage Inc. was notified by the vessel's assured and underwriters that ISI had been appointed as the salvor.

Inland Salvage Inc. awarded Wreck Removal Contract of Capsized Inland Drill Barge. Inland Salvage Inc. (ISI) was recently selected as Salvor to conduct Wreck Removal Operations of a 2,650t Inland Drill Barge following an unsuccessful attempt by another contractor to salvage the barge. The barge partially capsized in Bayou Shaffer, near Morgan City LA on September 4th, 2011. ISI provided initial emergency response, dive and lightering services after the barge capsized due to Tropical Storm Lee’s storm surge. Inland Salvage Inc.

One of Jumbo Offshore’s heavy lift & installation vessels, the DP2-ship Jumbo Javelin, is preparing to deliver installation services for offshore wind farms. It will be able to ship and install Transition Pieces (TP’s) for wind turbines. The vessel will be able to carry nine TP’s at a time, each with a weight of approx. 285 tonnes. All the TP’s can be stowed vertically in the hold of the vessel and transported to the offshore location site. There, the Jumbo Javelin positions itself on DP next to the monopile of the wind turbine foundation to lift the TP from the hold…

At 8:26 a.m., the morning of Jan. 30, Liverpool Coastguard were contacted by workers on the work barge UR101 reporting that the barge anchor cables were breaking in heavy seas. The barge had 42 workers onboard and the barge was secured by four anchors, at various times during the night three anchor cables broke leaving the barge secured by only one anchor. A decision was made to evacuate the barge in worsening weather conditions throughout the night. Initially, thirty three workers were evacuated by the barge tug Kingcraig and two support vessels Voe Jarl and Maggy M. The nine remaining workers this morning made a decision that the situation had worsened and for the safety of life contacted the coastguard for assistance.

Today's commercial vessel owners are becoming increasingly creative in order to extend the life of existing vessels. Typically, a commercial steel hull can last for more than 50 years. However, rugged use may call for extensive repair of a vessel to keep it sailing. Market changes may demand that a vessel originally design for one mission is converted to a new and hopefully more profitable use. Most repair work done in shipyards is for five-year regulatory inspections to meet Coast Guard requirements. Often shafts and props are repaired during this inspection, as are sea chests and rudders. Anodes may be replaced as well. A high profile…

Today's commercial vessel owners are becoming increasingly creative in order to extend the life of existing vessels. Typically, a commercial steel hull can last for more than 50 years. However, rugged use may call for extensive repair of a vessel to keep it sailing. Market changes may demand that a vessel originally design for one mission is converted to a new and hopefully more profitable use. Most repair work done in shipyards is for five-year regulatory inspections to meet Coast Guard requirements. Often shafts and props are repaired during this inspection, as are sea chests and rudders. Anodes may be replaced as well. A high profile…

Construction of Articulated Tug Barge units (ATB) continues to occupy a prominent place in the order books of several shipyards. However the pace of current building and back ordered units is not as high as the 2000-2002 period. "It looks like we are in for a little 'breather' for a while," said Allen Craft, senior vice president of Intercontinental Engineering-Manufacturing Corporation, Kansas City, Mo. The company manufactures Intercon, one of the most popular couplers between the tug and the barge, which makes the ATB concept workable. "Vessel Management Services, a division of Crowley Maritime was a major driving force in this market when they had two different yards each built two ATBs with 9,280 hp tugs and 155,000 barrel barges using our couplers," Craft said.

Despite a downgrading in rating from various credit agencies, Kirby Corporation's recent acquisition of Hollywood Marine is designed to reduce costs, as the inland tank barge operations of both companies are highly complementary. Kirby Corp, the largest U.S. tank barge operator, has agreed to buy Hollywood Marine Inc., an inland tank barge company based in Houston, for approximately $325 million. Kirby, also based in Houston, said the purchase price consists of $90 million in stock, $135 million in cash and the assumption or refinancing of about $100 million of Hollywood debt. "Hollywood's operations are complementary to our core inland tank barge operation and are an excellent fit within Kirby's strategy of growing our core businesses through synergistic acquisitions…

Halter Marine, Inc., has signed a contract with Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. of Hicksville, N.Y. to convert a 446-ft. single hulled, ocean-going petroleum tank barge (B. No. 155) to a double hull to meet the requirements of OPA 90. The contract also includes options for similar conversions of two additional pairs of sister vessels, all of which were constructed at Halter shipyards. The barge's conversion will be accomplished through the addition of an outside hull. As a result, the barge's dimensions of 446 x 74 x 32.5 ft. will be increased to 468 x 85.5 x 38 ft. and ocean load line capacity will increase from 125,000 barrels of residual fuel oil to 158,000 barrels with segregated ballast. Halter will also install an Intercon connection system on the barge and 127-ft.

Kirby Corp, the largest U.S. tank barge operator, has agreed to buy Hollywood Marine Inc., an inland tank barge company based in Houston, for approximately $325 million. Kirby, also based in Houston, said the purchase price consists of $90 million in stock, $135 million in cash and the assumption or refinancing of about $100 million of Hollywood debt. "Hollywood's operations are complementary to our core inland tank barge operation and are an excellent fit within Kirby's strategy of growing our core businesses through synergistic acquisitions," Kirby CEO and President J.H. Pyne said. As part of the deal, Kirby said it would name C. Berdon Lawrence…

Tug Thruston B. Morton, pushing 15 barges, allided with the Jefferson Street Bridge in Joliet, Ill., causing the bridge to be damaged enough it will have to be kept in the open position until repaired. Representatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) have reported to the USCG the vessel struck the right descending main support column on the northwest corner of the structure. The allision resulted in the forward starboard barge being struck under the opened bridge's catwalk. The vessel's crew intentionally ballasted-down this barge, allowing it to be pulled from under the catwalk (a standard procedure in a case of this nature). The tug and barges resumed its down-bound transit.