Joseph Matis
August 6, 2007
Felma Arceneaux
August 8, 2007
The first of two double-hull, 35,000-barrel oil tank barge units are en route to Bouchard Ocean Services, Melville, N.Y.
The barge, B. No. 231, which was built by Bollinger Marine Fabricators, L.L.C., in Amelia, meets the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, according to company officials.
“The delivery of the B. No. 231 is another step forward for Bouchard, and our commitment to our customers to provide the highest quality equipment that meets their changing needs. The Bollinger design, along with their manufacturing process and skilled labor force, insure that we are getting paramount barges, tugs and service for our new and existing fleet,” Morton S. Bouchard III, president and chief executive officer of Brouchard Affiliates, said in a news release.
The B. No. 231 is a manned, clean oil, oceans tank barge measuring 300-feet long, with a 64-foot beam and a depth of 21-feet. The barge has 10 cargo tanks, with Byron Jackson cargo pumps, driven by John Deere engines. The barge has accommodations with full galley for four, and is classed ABS, +A1 Oil Tank Barge, Manned Oceans.
Bollinger is scheduled to deliver the sister ship, B. No. 233, in the second quarter of 2008.
In addition, the 80,000-barrel B. No. 282 will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2007, and the B. No. 260, a 60,000-barrel barge, will be ready in the third quarter of 2008. It is being constructed at the Bollinger Gretna facility.
“We have been successful in working with Bouchard from our new construction, as well as our repair/conversion facilities” said Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, chairman and chief executive officer of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. “The diversity of our shipyards and workforce maintains our ability to provide customers like Bouchard with a single point of contact to respond to their demands in the marine market for new construction, conversions and repairs.”
According to Bollinger officials, Bouchard conversion projects at Bollinger Gulf Repair and Bollinger Algiers are moving forward with the tank barge B. No. 295, previously B. No. 195, being transformed from a single hull to double hull vessel to meet the requirements of OPA ’90, with her tug, the 127-foot, Bouchard Girls, as well as the tug Ellen S. Bouchard at Bollinger Algiers undergoing regulatory renewals and upgrades. The B. No. 295, Bouchard Girls and Ellen S. Bouchard will be retrofit with the Intercon connection system.
Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., and Bouchard Coastwise Management Co. were founded in 1918 and is a total service oil barging company. Its fleet includes 28 barges and 19 tugs. The company serves the U.S. East, Gulf and West coasts, the Great Lakes and the Caribbean.
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The Bollinger built 35,000-barrel tank barge B. No 231 sails past the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge entering New York Harbor as the latest addition to the growing OPA’90 compliant fleet of Bouchard Transportation. * Photo courtesy of BOLLINGER MARINE FABRICATORS
