Barge Commander
Port City Barge Inc. of Muskegon last month took delivery of the Commander, a 495-foot by 72-foot freight barge that it plans to use to haul cement for St. Marys Cement US LLC.
When paired with a tug, the articulated tug barge will be able to haul 14,500 tons of cement from the St. Marys Cement plant in Charlevoix primarily to ports in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Chuck Canestraight, president of Port City Barge, told MiBiz the company invested “$40 million-plus” into the expansion project to serve a growing need from St. Marys.
The addition of the Commander grew Port City Barge’s cement-hauling capacity by more than 72 percent.
“It was a pretty big expansion, and it’s to align ourselves with the significant expansions (St. Marys Cement is) making in their Charlevoix production facility,” Canestraight said.
Port City Barge and affiliated operator Port City Marine Services Inc. worked with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding LLC for the design and conversion of the vessel at its Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard. The build-out process took 21 months.
The Commander originated in the 1950s, when it was built in Texas as a pipe-laying and cable-laying barge for use in the Atlantic Ocean. It was later named Cleveland Rocks and used as a self-unloading bulk material barge.
Barge Commander
Port City Barge Inc. of Muskegon last month took delivery of the Commander, a 495-foot by 72-foot freight barge that it plans to use to haul cement for St. Marys Cement US LLC.
When paired with a tug, the articulated tug barge will be able to haul 14,500 tons of cement from the St. Marys Cement plant in Charlevoix primarily to ports in Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Chuck Canestraight, president of Port City Barge, told MiBiz the company invested “$40 million-plus” into the expansion project to serve a growing need from St. Marys.
The addition of the Commander grew Port City Barge’s cement-hauling capacity by more than 72 percent.
“It was a pretty big expansion, and it’s to align ourselves with the significant expansions (St. Marys Cement is) making in their Charlevoix production facility,” Canestraight said.
Port City Barge and affiliated operator Port City Marine Services Inc. worked with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding LLC for the design and conversion of the vessel at its Sturgeon Bay, Wis. shipyard. The build-out process took 21 months.
The Commander originated in the 1950s, when it was built in Texas as a pipe-laying and cable-laying barge for use in the Atlantic Ocean. It was later named Cleveland Rocks and used as a self-unloading bulk material barge.