American Commercial Lines Inc. announced the addition of 100 hourly positions to work at its shipyard division, Jeffboat LLC, located along the Ohio River in Jeffersonville, In. Jeffboat is the second largest manufacturer of barges in the United States and is in the process of increasing its production volumes.
Commenting on this development, Mr. Jerry Linzey, Senior Vice President Manufacturing, stated “We are beginning to see the early stages of a very significant barge replacement cycle for Jones Act companies in the United States. While we expect to reach approximately $140 million in revenue this year at Jeffboat, we anticipate reaching approximately $300 million in revenue in 2007. As a result, we are preparing the shipyard to be able to meet this level of demand. More importantly, we are preparing the shipyard to not only meet this demand but to also achieve new levels of productivity in 2007. Jeffboat is the largest inland shipyard in the United States; we also intend to make it one of the most profitable.”