SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., of Lockport and Bollinger Gretna L.L.C., of Harvey, delivered an articulated tug/barge (ATB) unit, tug Linda Lee Bouchard, and barge B. No. 205 to Bouchard Coastwise Management Corp., last Friday.

The tug was delivered to Bouchard Coastwise Management Corp. and christened at the Port of New Orleans, before it went to a refinery in Marrero to take on cargo to take to Texas.

“The delivery of these vessels from our three new construction locations during a difficult time for the South Louisiana region, says a lot about the dedication from the Bollinger workforce and our customer Bouchard, who continues to show support to Bollinger with additional building programs,” said Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, chairman and CEO of Bollinger.

Bollinger signed the contract to construct the vessels in November 2004. During that time, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall in Louisiana, delaying work on the vessels by four months, according to Robert Socha, Bollinger executive vice president of marketing and sales. “We had delays. But the biggest problem was labor. The labor issue is still the biggest problem.”

Socha said that another difficulty was in working with vendors to get all of the needed material. “Because a lot of our vendors were displaced, also,” he said.

The engineering, fabrication and construction of the barge was a joint effort between three Bollinger locations — Bollinger Lockport engineered and provided design support; Bollinger Marine Fabricators provided panel construction; and Bollinger Gretna built the unit.

Morton S. Bouchard III, president and chief executive officer of Bouchard Affiliates, said he is pleased with the companies’ partnership.

“We are very pleased with the strong partnership that we have developed with Bollinger Shipyards,” he said. “Bouchard is extremely grateful to the Bollinger management and employees for their dedication in constructing and delivering the quality of equipment, that for generations Bouchard and our customers demand, in the most difficult of times that the United States ship building industry has ever faced.”

Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.

Photo courtesy of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. * The Bollinger-built, OPA1990 compliant Bouchard ATB tug Linda Lee Bouchard and Barge B. No 205 under way with its first load of product.