American Commercial Lines Inc. announced that it launched the first in a series of tanker barges to be constructed at its Jeffboat manufacturing facility through 2012 to replace retiring fleet capacity. The new barges will improve the age profile and quality of ACL's fleet.
The first of these barges, launched on Tuesday, May 10 by ACL's President and CEO Mike Ryan, was a clean service tanker with a capacity of 30,000 barrels. It includes a redesigned stainless steel piping system and a new radial rake design that will also be found on the tankers the Company plans to build over the next 20 months.
"We are excited to have launched the first of the new replacement tankers that we will be building this year and next to significantly improve the quality of our liquids fleet for our customers," Mr. Ryan stated. "Investing in our fleet is one of the strategic business initiatives ACL is executing to achieve new levels of service and innovation. Our tanker barge build program demonstrates our commitment to meeting the long-term needs of our liquids customers."