Gunderson Marine launches heavy lift cargo deck barge

The 300-foot-long Prometheus slide gracefully into the Willamette River

MARCH 16, 2014—More than 200 guests were on hand at the Portland, OR, shipyard of Gunderson Marine for the christening and launching of the Prometheus, a new 300-foot-long heavy lift deck cargo barge, built for Ulysses, LLC, New Orleans, LA.

Ulysses, LLC, is a joint venture of family-owned marine transportation firm Canal Barge Company, Inc., New Orleans, and privately held Capstan Marine, LLC, Portland, OR. Canal Barge has a fleet of over 800 tank, deck and hopper barges, and 32 towboats, and operates a liquid bulk terminal, located near Chicago, IL.

Designed by Gunderson Marine, the 300 ft x 100 ft x 20 ft Prometheus has a maximum deck load capacity of 6,000 lbs. per square foot. The barge is specially designed for the growing deepwater offshore market, with the ability to transport large offshore structures, topside modules and components in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and worldwide. The barge will undergo stability tests and be certified by ABS prior to its delivery.

Canal Barge President & CEO Merritt Lane and Capstan Marine Manager Joseph Tennant were both on hand to provide brief remarks as part of the christening ceremony. Father Craig Boly, S.J., of St. Ignatius Parish in Portland, supplied the invocation, blessing the barge. Miriam “Mimsy” Huger Lindner (shown in accompanying photo) served as the vessel’s godmother, christening the barge “Prometheus” by breaking a bottle of champagne on its hull. The barge was then side launched, sliding gracefully into the Willamette River.

The Prometheus is a sister vessel to the Maximus, delivered by Gunderson Marine in the summer of 2008.

The launch of the Prometheus follows an order this past January for a 578-foot-long oceangoing tank barge that will be the largest such vessel yet to be built by Gunderson Marine. The order from Kirby Offshore Marine contains an option for a second unit. The tank barge, part of an Articulated Tug Barge (ATB) unit, will have a capacity of 185,000 barrels. Construction of the oil and chemical tank barge will begin in June 2014, with completion scheduled for the second half of 2015.