Bouchard Transportation Company News

The U.S. Coast Guard said it is pursuing enforcement action against Bouchard Transportation Company after the shipping company failed to comply with a captain of the port order for one of its two vessels anchored in the Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur, Texas, area of responsibility.According to the Coast Guard, tugs Kim M. Bouchard and Danielle M. Bouchard and their associated barges have been anchored off Texas Point since mid-December with no known plans to move and crews unpaid since January, raising safety concerns for the crews remaining aboard as well as the public and other professional mariners, and environmental concerns for the region.Combined…

The U.S. Coast Guard has ordered three of Bouchard Transportation Company's tug and fuel barge units currently anchored in New York Harbor to be moved out of anchorage and moored at a safe berth until additional safety inspections determine they are fit to return to service.The order from the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey is the result of recent safety checks determining that the vessel's present operational condition poses a risk to the safety of local waterways.

Combining classroom and lab learning with summer sea terms aboard the training ship and industry internships, SUNY Maritime prepares students to be leaders in all sectors of industry, the military and government. Education and training are comprehensive and use state-of-the-art simulation centers and facilities. The college has expanded to include more than 20 buildings and the training ship Empire State VI, a 565-foot ship that gives mariners-in-training the knowledge, skills and sea time necessary to join the maritime industry. The Bouchard Transportation Company Inc.

More than 100 students crossed the stage to receive their degrees at State University of New York Maritime College Jan. 29. Graduates represent 15 fields of study, a quarter of them at the graduate level. More than 60 of them will also graduate with U.S. Coast Guard licenses, the necessary certification to sail on an American ship as part of the merchant marine. “Some of you will be sailing on your license for the first time. Some will be working in other areas of the maritime industry and others may be pursuing other opportunities,” said RADM Michael Alfultis, president of SUNY Maritime. SUNY Maritime’s graduates come from 15 New York counties, 12 other states and three other countries.

The State University of New York Maritime College will confer the honorary degree of doctor of science degree on Morton S. Bouchard III, the president and CEO of Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., during winter 2016 commencement exercises Friday, January 29. Mort Bouchard is his family's fourth generation to manage Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., the largest privately owned ocean-going petroleum barge company in the United States. Bouchard Transportation operates on the East and Gulf coasts of the United States and in the Caribbean.

The proliferation of increasingly sophisticated and realistic maritime simulation facilities is taking the market by storm, with investment globally to train new and old mariners alike to exacting new standards. “Simulation technology has continued on a more or less steadily upward trajectory over the last ten years,” said Sam Pecota, Director of Simulation, California Maritime Academy, “The clarity and fidelity of our current full mission simulators is significantly superior to that which was possible at the turn of the century.

SUNY Maritime’s Cutting Edge Tug & Barge Simulator fills an enormous training hole in the tri-state area. When Morton S. Bouchard, III, maritime and political dignitaries officially opened the Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. Tug & Barge Simulation Center on the campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College last October, it opened a new era in maritime transportation for SUNY cadets and professional mariners in the greater New York area. That’s because the only other available simulator in the area had long since been moved to the Gulf Coast. With the snip of a ribbon by an oversized pair of ceremonial scissors, however, that situation was immediately resolved.

Insights: Morton S. Bouchard  III - President and CEO, Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. When it comes to iconic, East Coast mainstays of the U.S. maritime industry, probably one of the first names that come to mind is ‘Bouchard.’ Likewise, Morton S. Bouchard III, who has served as President of Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., the nation’s largest independently-owned oceangoing petroleum barge company since 1996, also needs no introduction to Marine News [and Marine Link] readers.

Nonprofit maritime trade association American Maritime Safety (AMS) held its 25th Annual Membership Meeting at The Yale Club of New York City on Thursday, October 23, honoring five member companies with Maritime Safety Awards in recognition of their dedication to promoting safe vessel navigation, preserving the marine environment and for their proactive efforts toward achieving safe maritime working practices. Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc. received the Tug and Barge Safety Award…

The Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc. and the State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY Maritime) today held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the Bouchard Tug & Barge Simulation Center. The Bouchard Tug & Barge Simulation Center is a training facility that incorporates Kongsberg’s Polaris Bridge Simulation technology and utilizes an industry-inspired bridge console arrangement, with the latest hydrodynamic ship models and exercise areas.

American Maritime Safety, Inc., (AMS), announced today that Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, General Dynamics/American Overseas Marine Corporation, Patriot Contract Services and U.S. Shipping Corporation would be the recipients of the 2014 AMS Maritime Safety Awards. AMS is a nonprofit maritime trade association, which facilitates the maritime industry's compliance with international shipping protocols and U.S. Coast Guard regulations. The AMS consortium is comprised of more than 400 vessel owners and operators.

President and CEO of Bouchard Transportation, Morton S. Bouchard III accepts the Admiral’s Award from Maritime College Interim President Dr. Michael A. Morton S. Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., President and CEO Morton S. Bouchard III was honored at Maritime College’s Annual Admiral’s Scholarship Dinner for his continued support of the College and its students. In recognition of the occasion, Mr. Bouchard announced plans for the construction of an on-campus dormitory to house visitors to the Bouchard Transportation Company…

The State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College said it will honor two industry leaders at its annual Admiral’s Scholarship Dinner on Tuesday, May 6. The dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Vander Clute Hall on the SUNY Maritime College campus. All tables to the event are sold out. At the event, the College will honor Richard A. Angerame, Class of 1973, President and CEO of utiliVisor, and Morton S. Bouchard III, President and CEO of Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc. for their generous and continued support of the College and its students. Angerame has more than 35 years experience in the operation and performance of HVAC and utility metering systems.

Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., headquartered in Melville, N.Y., said that the company will dpnate $750,000 to the State university of New York (SUNY) Maritime College’s Throgs Neck Campus to establish the Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., Tug and Barge Simulation Center. The center will offer full mission bridge simulators, instruction stations and a debriefing area where instructors can meet with students to discuss navigation, seamanship and bridge resource management skills required in the operation of tug and barges.

Bollinger Gulf Repair L.L.C., a Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., shipyard, has completed the retrofit of a Bouchard Coastwise Management Co., tug and barge to an articulated (ATB) unit utilizing the Intercon Coupler System. The 446-foot, 125,000 BBL (barrel) black oil Barge B. No.175 which was renamed Barge B. No.275, was transformed from a single hull to double hull vessel to meet the requirements of OPA ‘90. Her stern was modified with the matching Intercon ladder to accept the bow of the 127-foot tug CAPT. FRED BOUCHARD, which was retrofitted with ram assemblies of the Intercon system.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts said that Bouchard Transportation Company has agreed to plead guilty to violation of federal law relating to a 2003 oil spill in Buzzards Bay and to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $10 million. The company will also be placed on probation for three years and will undertake a number of remedial measures to reduce the risk of future oil spills. The company will institute a maritime compliance program and will disclose to the government the results of its internal investigation. The government alleges that the company negligently violated the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) because its employee…

A Jacksonville, Florida man was charged today in federal court with one count of violating the Clean Water Act and one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida…

A Jacksonville, Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B.

Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards Inc. reported two of its shipyards in New Orleans completed the retrofit and conversion of barge and tug to an articulated tug and barge unit utilizing the Intercon Coupler System. Bouchard Coastwise Management Co owns the barge and tug. Bollinger officials say the unique conversion work shows the shipyard’s flexibility to meet customer needs. “This double hulling of the Bouchard B. No. 295 and the re-fit of the tug Bouchard Girls using two separate Bollinger facilities exemplifies Bollinger’s unique ability to work with the needs of our customers to complete the job,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s executive vice president of repair.

Pictured is Bouchard’s B. No. 295 and Bouchard Girls, converted and retrofitted by Bollinger Gulf Repair and Bollinger Algiers, as an OPA’90 compliant ATB unit. Bollinger Gulf Repair, L.L.C. and Bollinger Algiers, L.L.C, two Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., shipyards, have completed the retrofit and conversion of a Bouchard Coastwise Management Co., barge and tug, respectfully, to an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit utilizing the Intercon Coupler System. At Bollinger Gulf Repair, the 446-foot, black oil Barge B. No.195 which has been renamed Barge B. No.295, was transformed from a single hull to double hull vessel to meet the requirements of OPA'90. The B. No. 295 measures 468-foot x 85.5-foot x 38.1-foot, with sixteen (16) cargo tanks.

The state of Florida, the federal government and several corporations have agreed to a more than $8 million settlement to fund restoration projects for natural resources damaged in a 1993 oil spill in Tampa Bay. An 11-acre degraded mangrove system will be improved, two acres of salt marsh will be replanted, and millions of dollars for other natural resource restoration work will be paid by those responsible for the oil spill, the U.S. Commerce Department's NOAA, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Department of Justice said. State and federal officials worked closely with those responsible for the spill to forge a settlement under which the Bouchard Transportation Company Inc.…

Morton Bouchard III, President and CEO of Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc and Bouchard Coastwise Management Corporation, announced that the first of its two double-hull, clean product, ocean-going, articulated tug and barge (ATB) units is ready for sea trails and is being outfitted for delivery at Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana. In his statement to the press, Mr. Bouchard said, "In 1990, our company embarked on a long-term business plan that has been moving forward for over a decade. Our management initiated an aggressive building plan that includes the retrofit of single-hull barges and a new building program which includes two new articulated tugs and barges that will strategically position the organization in the petroleum transportation industry.