Blessey Marine adds new pushboat

MAY 26, 2014—Blessey Marine Services, Inc. transports everything from residual fuels to asphalt to lubricating oils to petrochemicals on its inland river fleet of tank barges. Blessey Marine’s fleet includes nine acid pressure barges, twenty-one 10,000-bbl clean/chemical tank barges; five 20,000 bbl clean/chemical tank barges, thirty-two 30,000-bbl clean/chemical tank barges, and sixty-three 30,000-bbl black oil/asphalt tank barges.

Primarily a “Unit Tow” company, Hanrahan, Louisiana-based operator over the last decade has added a large number of new Cummins-powered pushboats to its inland fleet. The vessels are sized to share a common versatility with the draft and horsepower to work both the shallower waters of the Intracoastal Waterway and the big flows of the Mississippi River.

Of the 75 pushboats in Blessey Marine’s fleet, 41 of them are either 1,700 or 2,000 horsepower. The lower horsepower boats are 76 feet long, while the higher horsepower boats are 80 to 88 feet long.

Both sets of vessels are fitted with a pair of the popular Cummins K38M main engines. Each of the 76-ft pushboats have a pair of 850-hp engines, while the larger boats have two 1,000 hp engines.

This May saw the addition of the Erin C. Grenon, a 1,700-hp pushboat built by  Raymond & Associates, Bayou LaBatre, AL. Built as Hull #479 by the shipyard, the Erin C. Grenon has two 850-HP Cummins K38M engines that turn up to 1,800 rev/min to Reintjes WAF474 marine gears with 7.09:1 reduction. The boat is also fitted with a pair of Cummins QSB7DM-powered 85 kW generators sets.

The Reintjes marine gears were supplied by Karl Senner, LLC, Kenner, LA. Besides being the exclusive representative for Reintjes marine gears in North America, Karl Senner is the sole North American distributor for Steerprop Ltd. and installs and services Berg controllable pitch propellers.