Laborde Marine enters the U.S. inland marine market

The initial vessel LabMar Inland vessel is the Ivy Steiner, a new 78-foot, 2,000 BHP pushboat delivered earlier this year by Steiner Construction

New Orleans, La., headquartered Laborde Marine Management LLC is entering the U.S. inland marine market. It has created a new affiliate, LabMar Inland LLC, that will provide towing and pushboat services.

The initial vessel LabMar Inland vessel is the Ivy Steiner, a new 78-foot, 2,000 BHP pushboat delivered earlier this year by Steiner Construction. All aspects of the operation of the vessel will be provided under the same high standards that have been the hallmark of Laborde Marine, which owns or operates a fleet of 21 vessels servicing the offshore oil industry and perfgorming other marine support activities.

“We are very pleased to announce our entry into the inland marine market through our new affiliate, LabMar Inland, LLC and our initial charter of the Ivy Steiner,” said Ashton Laborde, president of Laborde Marine Management. “We intend to grow this new facet of our operations with additional towing and pushboat vessels, which is a natural extension of our many years of serving the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We have the in-house expertise, strong management team and skilled crews to quickly build our presence inland. We will overlay our safety culture that has made us a trusted marine services provider for over 30 years to all aspects of these new operations. We see increasing demand for our services in the brown water markets of the U.S. as well as the offshore Gulf of Mexico and look forward to growing in both markets.”

Laborde Marine, which notes that is not affiliated in any way with engine and genset distributor Laborde Products Inc., also operates a ferry service in the New Orleans area, through its LabMar Ferry Services LLC affiiate, on behalf of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority.