Lufkin News

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted the most notable newbuilds delivered in 2022. From sturdy and nimble workboats, to the first new Jones Act laker in a generation, each vessel on display showcases the industry’s engineering prowess and technological ingenuity, with the focus on improving efficiency in operations. The maritime industry has no shortage of challenges to overcome, and each of Marine News’ top vessels will, in one way or another, aid efforts to tackle them.Mark W.

The Interlake Steamship Company held a christening ceremony in Cleveland on Thursday for its new vessel, Mark W. Barker, the first U.S.-flagged freighter built on the Great lakes in nearly four decades.“This is truly a historic celebration for our company and for the United States maritime industry as we proudly christen the newest vessel to join the U.S. flag fleet on the Great Lakes and our first new build in 41 years,” said Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and the vessel’s namesake.

The newly built Mark W. Barker, the United States' first new Great Lakes bulk carrier in nearly 40 years, has embarked on its maiden voyage from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.“This is a monumental day for our company and the U.S. flag fleet as our much-anticipated freighter departs on her first voyage in what will be a long life of service on the Great Lakes,” said Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and namesake of the vessel—the company’s first new build since 1981.

A ceremony held at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding on Thursday marked the launch of the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in nearly four decades. The 639-foot Mark W. Barker, currently under construction for Ohio-based The Interlake Steamship Company, was floated in the large drydock at the Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard.“Today is truly gratifying for our company to commemorate the first time the completed hull of our new ship has touched water,” said Mark W. Barker…

North Kingstown, R.I. shipbuilder Senesco Marine has built and delivered another EPA Tier 4 compliant tug, Janice Ann Reinauer, to Reinauer Transportation. Upon delivery, the tug went directly to work transporting product on the U.S East and Gulf Coasts.The 4,200-horsepower vessel was designed by Ocean Tug & Barge in close cooperation with The Reinauer operations team and is the 13th tug Senesco has built for Reinauer. The tug was designed to operate as an articulated tug-barge unit (ATB) with an Intercon coupling system.The Janice Ann is classed by ABS (A1…

“We got 59,115 hours on those engines, without ever removing a head,” says Seaspan International’s Port Engineer Kevin Tweedy, “And they were still running. So, at 5,000 to 5,500 hours per year, we could easily have done 60,000 hours.”But the company schedule worked to do a like-for-like repower. The pair of 850-horsepower Tier 1 Cummins KTA38 diesels were pulled out, and a brand-new set of 850-horsepower Tier 2 KTA38s went in.The Seaspan Cavalier was built in 1974, along with three sister ships.

How have major events such as the U.S./China trade war, oil price fall and COVID-19 impacted Twin Disc’s commercial marine business to date, and what adjustments have you made in response?These are the three things that I’ve been highlighting in employee communications and with investors over the last few months. For us, COVID was just the third punch after the other two. China is typically our second largest market after the U.S., and we lost lots of orders to our competitors as the trade war started to affect us. It’s rebounding a little, but it definitely impacted our sales into China.

A keel laying ceremony on Tuesday marked the official start of assembly on the first new U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years.During the ceremony held by The Interlake Steamship Company and Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, (FBS) the keel was laid within the shipyard’s large graving dock in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. following more than nine months of engineering and prefabrication work of its modular sections by the FBS team.Though the build project is already well underway…

The U.S. Great Lakes freighter fleet are well-renowned for being a 'mature' group of ships, a point magnified yesterday when Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding started construction on the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier built in more than 35 years. The shipyard and the owner, The Interlake Steamship Company, hosted a ceremonial first-cut-of-steel event Wednesday, August 14, signalling the start of construction.The new River-Class, self-unloading bulk carrier is believed to be the first ship for U.S. Great Lakes service built on the Great Lakes since 1983.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. has announced the delivery of the Escort/Rescue Z-Drive Tug Ava M. McAllister for McAllister Towing, Inc. on May 31, 2019. This Escort/Rescue Z-Drive Tug design is provided by Jensen Maritime Consultants and is issued a USCG Sub-M Certificate of Inspection (COI). The vessel arrived at Eastern in 2018.The Ava M. McAllister (ESG Hull #222) is from the same 100’ Z-drive tug design provided by Jensen Maritime Consultants of Seattle, WA as the Rosemary McAllister (ESG Hull #224) and the upcoming Capt. Jim McAllister(ESG Hull #223), tugs constructed at Eastern.

U.S. ship owner The Interlake Steamship Company said it has ordered a new U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier, the first to be built in more than 35 years. Measuring 639 feet in length (78 feet W, 45 feet H, 28,000 DWT), the vessel will be constructed by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., for scheduled completion in mid-2022.The new River-Class, self-unloading bulk carrier is reportedly the first ship for U.S. Great Lakes service built on the Great Lakes since 1983.The Interlake Steamship Company…

Twin Disc, Inc. broke ground recently on its new operations facility in Lufkin, Texas, scheduled to open in January 2020.The new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will focus on producing power take-offs and clutches for heavy duty industrial equipment. The main purpose of the facility is to assemble the company's complete industrial product line and to be a distribution center for all new products coming from European operations to the United States."We've seen tremendous growth in our business across all markets…

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. delivered the DNV classed factory processor fishing trawler F/T Araho (Hull 175) on January 28, 2017 to the O’Hara Corporation of Rockland, Maine. She is the first U.S. flag freezer processor factory trawler constructed in over 25 years. The F/T Araho will be in service in the waters of Alaska. The O’Hara family and Eastern Shipbuilding are no strangers to each other. The F/T Araho is the sixth fishing vessel Eastern has built for the O’Hara family over the last 20 years. This factory processor fishing trawler is far more sophisticated than the prior five vessels. The O’Hara and D’Isernia families go back to the early 1990s with the F/V Enterprise a Catcher Processor Conversion delivered in 1996.

The newly repowered M/V Herbert C. Jackson departed Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis., yesterday giving a farewell salute to the Twin Ports where it has been undergoing its steam-to-diesel conversion since December 21. As the last steam-powered ship in Interlake Steamship Company’s fleet, the conversion of the Herbert C. Jackson represents the final phase of the company’s decade-long modernization program to create the most efficient, reliable and environmentally responsible fleet on the Great Lakes. The 690-foot Jackson is the fifth ship to undergo a major overhaul and Interlake’s fourth and last steam-to-diesel conversion since 2006. “After a successful repowering at Fraser Shipyards, the Herbert C.

Gulf Island Shipyards, LLC recently delivered the second of a three-vessel new build program for Marquette Transportation Company of Paducah Kentucky. The M/V Loree Eckstein, named after John Eckstein’s wife, was delivered on February 18, 2016 at Gulf Island Shipyards’ Houma (South) yard. This vessel is 180 ft. x 48 ft. x 11.5 ft. and is powered by twin EMD 20-710 G7C Tier 3, low emission diesel engines capable of producing over 10,000 horsepower via Lufkin gearboxes. Pushing the vessel are a pair of ducted, stainless steel, five-bladed propellers 10 ft. in diameter.

The S.S. Herbert C. Jackson made its final journey as a steamship this month when it sailed into Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wis., where it will undergo a six-month conversion to a highly automated diesel propulsion system. As the last steam-powered ship in Interlake Steamship Company’s fleet, the Jackson is the fifth ship to undergo a major overhaul and its fourth steam-to-diesel conversion since 2006. This conversion represents the final phase of the company’s 10-year, $100 million modernization effort.

Shawn Calhoun has joined Voith Turbo’s Power, Oil & Gas Division as Vice President of Sales – Oil and Gas, to be based at the company’s new Houston, Texas office with the mission of supporting existing customers and expanding Voith Turbo’s footprint in the oil and gas sector. Prior to joining Voith, Calhoun served as Director of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Lufkin Industries, a division of General Electric. He previously served as General Manager of Lufkin’s Gear Repair Division. Calhoun graduated from Centenary College with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology.

The Interlake Steamship Company announced that it will repower its last steamship, the S.S. Herbert C. Jackson, with a highly automated diesel propulsion system in the final phase of a 10-year, $100 million modernization effort to create the most efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly fleet on the Great Lakes. The six-month diesel conversion, which is slated to begin in mid-December, is the fifth major overhaul to Interlake’s fleet and its fourth steam-to-diesel conversion since 2006.

Reinauer Transportation Companies, LLC, purchased two GE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 certified marine diesel engines and two Lufkin Marine Propulsion Gearboxes for its new articulated tug and barge (ATB), GE Marine announced. The ATB will be built by Senesco Marine and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2016 to transport petroleum products in U.S. and International coastal waters. Local engine support will be provided by GE Marine’s Distributor, Cummins MidSouth.

McAllister Towing hosted a dual celebration in New York City on Friday, September 19, a gala in honor of the company’s 150th anniversary and a traditional christening of the Buckley McAllister, the latest high tech tractor tug added to the company’s fleet. Pier 60 at Chelsea piers was packed with a veritable “Who’s Who” in the maritime industry as Captain Brian A. McAllister, Chairman (4th generation); Buckley McAllister, President (5th generation) and Eric McAllister, CFO (5th generation) presided over the signature New York event.

Proliferation of energy related transport continues to drive commercial U.S. As the United States aims towards energy independence by the end of this decade, domestic shipyards and vessels owners are reaping rewards from this most unexpected turn of events. Hydraulic Fracturing, or fracking, has been the main (and well publicized) culprit in the rapid turn of events. While the proliferation of gas has been widely known for years, the presence of oil, in quantity, was a pleasant…

Morton S. Bouchard III, President and CEO of Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., today announced the next step in the company’s ongoing fleet expansion with the construction of two 6,000-hp ATB tugs. These newbuilds, the M/V Bouchard Boys and the M/V Evening Light, will be equipped with Intercon Coupler Systems and constructed by VT Halter Marine, Inc. Measuring 130 feet by 38 feet by 22 feet, these 6,000-hp Twin Screw ATB Tugs will be classed by ABS as A1 Ocean Towing, Dual Mode ATB, USCG Subchapter C, both will be built with Tier III engines and Lufkin gears. “I am happy to share the news of Bouchard Transportation’s fleet expansion,” said Mr. Bouchard upon making the announcement.

Morton S. Bouchard III, President and CEO of Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., today announced the next step in Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc.’s ongoing fleet expansion with the construction of two 6,000-hp ATB tugs. The newbuilds, the M/V Bouchard Boys and the M/V Evening Light, will be equipped with Intercon Coupler Systems and constructed by VT Halter Marine, Inc. Measuring 130 feet by 38 feet by 22 feet, the 6,000-hp Twin Screw ATB Tugs will be classed by ABS as A1 Ocean Towing, Dual Mode ATB, USCG Subchapter C, both will be built with Tier III engines and Lufkin gears.