Senesco Marine Signs Contract For 140,000-Barrel DH ATB

In a move that will change Senesco Marine’s focus and provide continuous work for the next three years, officials at the shipyard announced they have signed a contract with New Jersey based U.S. Shipping, LLC (USSHIPLLC), the largest American Flagged petroleum/chemical carrier in the United States, to build a 140,0000-barrel double-hulled chemical AT/B with tug that can double as a 150,000-barrel double-hulled petroleum AT/B.

U.S. Shipping has options for three more 150,000-barrel double-hulled petroleum AT/B’s with Senesco Marine. The move will more than double Senesco Marine’s workforce, which currently stands at approximately 200. “By November of 2005 we will have a workforce of more than 500 employees,” said Gary Schuler, CEO of Senesco Marine. The contract for the first AT/B is worth more than $40 million. “We are announcing to the industry that we are now focusing on state of the art AT/B’s,” said Schuler.

Construction is expected to take around 14 months for the barge and 12 months for the tug. If all goes according to plan, Senesco Marine will start cutting steel in December and expects to deliver the AT/B early in 2006. “We were very impressed with the business like approach Senesco Marine took. We also felt they have an excellent technical team that addressed all of our questions and needs,” said Joe Gehegan, President of U.S. Shipping, LLC. U.S. Shipping is a leader in the U.S. product tanker industry, operating six Integrated Tug and Barge (ITB) vessels in the domestic oil trade and two parcel tankers. The 48,000 dead-weight ton vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and capable of carrying a wide variety of liquid petroleum and petro-chemical cargoes.

U.S. Shipping employs over 300 highly trained professional officers and seafarers. The AT/B will be the first for U.S. Shipping. Guarino and Cox, of New Orleans, one of the industry’s most respected naval architecture firms, designed the AT/B. Senesco Marine entered a strategic partnership with Guarino & Cox over a year ago as part of a sweeping new on time design, build and delivery process.

Senesco Marine has also established a strategic alliance with Luther Blount of Blount Boats in Warren, Rhode Island to act as a technical consultant on the tug portion of the project. One of the most famous vessels built at the Blount shipyard was the 130-foot, 600-passenger Miss Liberty. The boat, built in 1952, carried more than 60,000,000 passengers from Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty for the Circle Line.

When complete the barge component of the AT/B will measure 512 feet long with a displacement of 26,600 tons. The tug will measure approximately 145 feet in length with 10,000 hp along with state of the art controls, galley and sleeping quarters capable of holding a crew of 16. All total the AT/B will measure approximately 600 feet long.