Florida Marine orders six more 30,000 bbl tank barges from TY Offshore

JUNE 25, 2012 — FMT Industries, LLC—one of the several companies within the Florida Marine Group—has signed a contract with Trinity Offshore, LLC (now known as TY Offshore) to build an additional six 297 ft 6 in x 54 ft x 12 ft, 30,000 barrel tank barges.

FMT Industries placed its original order for four 30,000 barrel tank barges in October 2011; TY Offshore is on pace to deliver the first barge in mid July with follow on barges on thirty day intervals. The barges are being built at TY Offshore’s Gulfport, Mississippi facility.

Florida Marine’s Chairman and CEO, Dennis A. Pasentine, says, “Florida Marine continues to place its commitment to meet customers’ needs at the forefront of our priority list. To fulfill expectations, and with progress on our original contract well in hand at TY Offshore, we’ve decided to go ahead with the six option barges.”

John Dane III, TY Offshore’s President and CEO, comments, “FMT Industries has placed a good deal of confidence in TY Offshore (a brand we’ve recently adopted to avoid marketplace confusion). To exercise their option for the additional six barges only months following the original contract shows significant assurance in our capabilities. More, it guarantees that two hundred TY Offshore workers will be employed over the next 20 months.”

According to John Dane, the re-branding is “intended to provide clear market positioning for the leading Mississippi-based designer and builder of commercial tugs, offshore barges, oil spill response, patrol and oil field support vessels from 10 meters to 95 meters (33 ft to 312 ft) in length. The name change is also intended to delineate the company from Dallas, Texas-based Trinity Industries, Inc.”

Principals of TY Offshore include some of the most recognizable names in the maritime business: John Dane III, William S. Smith III, Wayne Bourgeois, Jimmy Rivers and Phil Nuss.

“By maximizing their vast knowledge of the market, their collective engineering and design acumen, and rich maritime legacy, the executive management of TY Offshore has an impressive list of vessels underway in only the past year,” says the company.

Showing its diversity, TY Offshore is currently building four Harvey Gulf International 302’ x 64’ (92 m x 19.5 m) Dual Fuel Supply Vessels and ten  30,000 barrel 297’6” x 54’ x 12’ (16.45m x 3.65m) Fuel Barges for FMT. In early 2012, TY Offshore delivered two Signet Maritime Corporation 100’ (30.48m) RAstar 3100 Class Terminal Support/Escort Tugs. In 2011, TY Offshore delivered a 57’ (17.37m) MKII Very Shallow Draft Multi-System Skimmer (VSMSS) for Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC). Six  of a total order of ten  90’ (27 m ) MK V patrol boats are also under construction, four having already been delivered.