Bollinger Buys Gulf Island’s Shipyard Facilities
Lockport, La.-based Bollinger Shipyards has acquired Gulf Island Fabrication’s shipyard facilities in nearby Houma for approximately $28.6 million.The purchased site encompasses 437 acres on the west bank of the Houma Navigation Canal, of which 283 acres is unimproved land that is available for expansion. The facility includes 18,000 square feet of administrative and operations facilities, 160,000 square feet of covered fabrication facilities and 20,000 square feet of warehouse facilities. It also has 6,750 linear feet of water frontage, including 2,350 feet of steel bulkheads.
Book Review: After the Galaxy
“Yes, Mirek. Four men huddled on the bow of the burning, 190-foot fishing vessel Galaxy as the crippled boat foundered on one of the world’s cruelest oceans. Captain Dave Shoemaker was seriously hurt. After the backdraft explosion, he made several desperate attempts to enter the smoke-filled wheelhouse, find a radio and issue a mayday call. Each foray left him puking and gasping, smoke searing his lungs and contact with the steel bulkheads charring his flesh and igniting his clothing. After each attempt, he climbed through an escape hatch onto the roof of the wheelhouse, gasping for air.
Horizon Shipbuilding Delivers Two Towboats
Both Milestones Met In Same Week. Horizon Shipbuilding has delivered the fourth in a series of 120’ Towboats to Florida Marine Transporters of Mandeville, LA. The M/V Dale Artigue joins her sister ships, M/V’s Capt. W. D. Nunley, Capt. Kirby Dupuis and Brees in pushing cargoes throughout the inland waterways of the United States. “Like the other towboats we have built, the Artigue adds to FMT’s stable of workhorses,” said Ben Forrest, Horizon Project Manager. “The workmanship that our guys put into this boat is easily recognizable.
Regulation of Ship Design and Construction
It is often said that humans learn more from their failures than from their successes. While the saying may be an exaggeration, there have certainly been a number of failures in the design and construction of ships that have resulted in improvements of future efforts. Some of those improvements have been forced on the marine industry by government regulation. More often, though, government regulation has been utilized to ensure that all players implement needful improvements that have been voluntarily adopted by forward-thinking companies.
