Collette Bayou News

The Coast Guard Cutter Pamlico, a 160 ft inland construction tender, homeported in New Orleans, transits Baptiste Collette Bayou, while working aids to navigation in the Mississippi River Delta near Venice, La., Wednesday April 29, 2009. The Pamlico is manned by 16 crewmembers, who construct fixed aids to navigation from Baton Rouge to the Southwest Pass o the Mississippi River and its surrounding waterways. U.S. Coast Guard photograph / Petty Officer 3rd Class Tom Atkeson

The Venice Port Complex. The offshore oil and gas industry is no stranger to the southernmost point of Louisiana. For more than a half-century, offshore personnel drove to the community of Venice to board offshore supply vessels or helicopters to make the trip to their jobs atop drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, officials hope to redefine the area’s role in the offshore industry and capitalize on a planned boon in oil and gas drilling and production in the eastern Gulf. The effort consists of a re-branding of the facility and a healthy influx of investment capital for improved infrastructure. Welcome to the Venice Port Complex, much better sounding then the Louisiana Fruit Company site, its previous name relating to the facility’s development and proprietary company.