The Greenbrier Companies announced today that its
Gunderson Marine division in Portland, Oregon has received an order
from Sause Bros. for a 100,000 barrel double-hull oceangoing oil barge. The order is the fourth in a series of barges currently on order from Sause Bros., also headquartered in Oregon. Coupled with other recent orders from Alaska Marine Lines, a Lynden company, Greenbrier's marine backlog is now valued at over $30 million, and extends into mid-2004.
Gunderson, through its marine and railcar divisions, currently has over 1,100 employees, 15% of which are dedicated to marine. Gunderson is actively seeking 60 new employees due to an upturn in both the marine and railcar marketplace.
The Sause Bros. oil barge, the largest such double-hull barge ever built by Gunderson, will be 432 ft. in length, 76 ft. in width, with a dead weight of 16,000 long tons. Sause will use the barge to transport heavy oil products on the West Coast. Double-hull barges for the transport of petroleum products are mandatory under environmental regulations set by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Substantial construction of double-hull barges is anticipated over the next decade, as older single-hull barges are replaced. Other orders from Sause Bros. include barges for asphalt service, and clean petroleum product service for the West Coast and Hawaii.
Headquartered in Coos Bay, Oregon, Sause Bros. operates a fleet of over 60 tugs and oil and deck-cargo barges for customers throughout the Pacific Rim. Sause is a privately owned family business with a longstanding marine history. It has the most modern fleet of double-hull liquid cargo barges on the U.S. West Coast.