Reinauer Transportation Company News

Senesco Marine Shipyard on the U.S. northeast coast has invested in a more productive and efficient welding system, concluding a deal with Pemamek to deliver a PEMA Welding Portal for the welding of double bottoms and subassemblies. Senesco Marine, a Reinauer Transportation Company, is a shipyard for new construction and vessel repair in the Northeast, consisting of 26 acres of Narragansett Bay waterfront property. To further boost its fabrication capability, Senesco trusted in PEMA’s welding automation technology and made a deal of a twin robot welding gantry.

Senesco Marine, LLC, a holding of the Reinauer Transportation Company of New York, has been contracted by Covanta 4Recovery, L.P., a subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corporation, to construct six 150 foot container transport barges fitted with cell guides that are designed to carry 48 sealed waste containers each. When completed the barges will service two new marine municipal solid waste (MSW) transfer stations located in Queens and Manhattan, owned by the City of New York and to be operated by the City's Department of Sanitation.

Senesco Marine Steps Out Into the Broader Commercial Build and Repair Markets. The largest mid-tier yard in the U.S. Northeast touts deep experience and high standards. Suddenly, operators have another viable choice for newbuild and repair work. After being off the radar for perhaps as many as 12 years – during which the yard was itself quite busy primarily servicing internal Reinauer requirements – Rhode Island-based Senesco Marine LLC has moved more aggressively into the outside commercial markets. Although perhaps representing a somewhat new entity to some clients, Senesco is anything but new on the scene. An accomplished builder of modern tonnage, it is more than capable of taking on any mid-tier shipyard newbuild or repair challenge.

On May 15, the Municipal Waterfront Alliance sponsored its second port-wide waterfront conference focused on the legal, environmental, infrastructure, redevelopment, commercial, transportation and economic issues facing the Port of New York & New Jersey. The conference took place in the Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey and the World Financial Center in New York City -- a short water taxi ride for the participants. The conference was attended by approximately 500 people, including 60 federal, state and local government representatives and stakeholders in the future redevelopment of the port complex. New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey was the keynote speaker…

Atlantic Marine, Inc. has signed a contract with Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. of Mandeville, Louisiana to build two (2) large, high capacity, Offshore Supply Vessels (OSVs) to serve the deepwater offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico and worldwide. These two vessels will be built at Atlantic's Alabama Shipyard Division in Mobile, Alabama. Both vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2002. The contract includes options for two additional vessels. The vessels are state-of-the-art OSVs, each equipped with dynamic positioning capability. The vessels will be U.S. flagged and ABS Classed with dual U.S. Coast Guard certificates for both subchapter I and L. The vessels are 260 ft.

Atlantic Marine, Inc. signed a contract with Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. of Mandeville, La., to build two large, high capacity, Offshore Supply Vessels (OSVs) to serve the deepwater offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico and worldwide. These two vessels will be built at Atlantic's Alabama Shipyard Division in Mobile, Ala. Both vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2002. The contract includes options for two additional vessels. The vessels are state-of-the-art OSVs, each equipped with dynamic positioning capability. The vessels will be U.S. flagged and ABS Classed with dual U.S. Coast Guard certificates for both subchapter I and L. The vessels are 260 ft.

The maritime industry operates according to seafaring laws that are hundreds of years old. Until recently, the backroom operations, too, reflected a less-than-modern view of the world. Virtually all systems were manual, resulting in the often onerous and ponderous transfer of information to customers, management and employees. At many companies, including Reinauer Transportation Company and its sister companies, Boston Towing and Transportation, and Reincon, this has begun to change. The 77- year-old family owned and operated tug and barge company is now using web-built accounting and operations systems, which have dramatically transformed business for customers like Mobil, Exxon, Chevron and Shell.

All of the growth markets in the commercial marine marketplace have something to do with petroleum. Supply and crew/supply boats directly support drilling activity and Articulated Tug Barges (ATB) distributes crude, refined or an oil byproduct to refiners or distributors. The ATB represents a big advance in transporting these oil products over a pushboat pushing a tow of petroleum barges. Typically an ATB is one large barge with capacity from 80,000 to 160,000 barrels being pushed by a tug that fits into a notch in the barge. An advanced coupling system permits easy coupling and uncoupling of the two units. With typical barge and pushboat units, the coupling system uses winches and wire ropes to lash the barges together and also secure the barge tow to the pushboat.

Construction of Articulated Tug Barge units (ATB) continues to occupy a prominent place in the order books of several shipyards. However the pace of current building and back ordered units is not as high as the 2000-2002 period. "It looks like we are in for a little 'breather' for a while," said Allen Craft, senior vice president of Intercontinental Engineering-Manufacturing Corporation, Kansas City, Mo. The company manufactures Intercon, one of the most popular couplers between the tug and the barge, which makes the ATB concept workable. "Vessel Management Services, a division of Crowley Maritime was a major driving force in this market when they had two different yards each built two ATBs with 9,280 hp tugs and 155,000 barrel barges using our couplers," Craft said.