Heralded as what will be “the most powerful ship-assist tug on the Mississippi River,” Bisso Towboat Co. is building what it considers the latest step up to its fleet.
For the Luling-based company, the vessel represents power, as well as the ability to do more in its business in the New Orleans area.
“We dock ships,” said President Scott Slatten. “They need tugs to help them in and out of docks safely. We’re handling ships upwards of 1,000 deadweight tons (total tonnage including cargo, fuel, ballast water, passengers and crew). The more power you have the better you can assist them safely.”
The tug will be the latest addition to the company’s fleet, which will have 6,008 BHP (brake horse power), making it the most powerful of its type on the river, Slatten said. It will feature two Caterpillar engines (each generating 3,004 BHP at 1,800 RPMs) that will drive two Rolls Royce thrusters with 98.4-inch diameter propellers.
Main Iron Works in Houma will start building the tug in August. Bisso has had 12 tugs built at the shipyard.
“The customers are demanding more power and less tug,” he said. “You can handle these ships with two or three tugs, but the customers want fewer of them and want more powerful, maneuverable tugs so we’ve been increasing this with our fleet dramatically in the last 10 years.”
Slatten said he is replacing old tugs in the company’s 12-tug fleet, but he’s also accommodating growth. His company has experienced a 5 percent jump in ship traffic, mainly in petroleum, chemical products, and grains and feedstocks, on the river over the past two years.
“Business is good, but we are always looking to grow,” he said.
As one of the largest ship-assist companies on the river, Bisso Towboat assists an estimated 2,000 vessels a year, including chemical tankers, grain ships and coal ships, from all over the world. This number is actually higher because some of the vessels are assisted multiple times.
“The only reason we’re here is that Mississippi River,” Slatten said. “I’m fifth generation [with Bisso] and it’s generally little known about what we do on the river. If you took the river, it would put millions of people out of work nationwide. River jobs are good paying jobs.”
The new tug will operate at the company’s three operations in Luling, Plaquemines and St. James parishes. Slatten said it will likely service the area between New Orleans and Baton Rouge
The 105-employee company has been in business 150 years, originating in New Orleans and then relocating its main office to Luling in 2010.
“We put the dock here on the waterside in the mid-1990s, but nothing shore side on the land except for some parking” Slatten said.
After Hurricane Katrina deluged New Orleans, he said they decided to move operations to Luling and leased more land to expand operations. The move proved more convenient, as well as allowed for building an office building capable of withstanding hurricane winds.
Slatten added, “We really like it here and we’re not going anywhere.”
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