Bouchard ready for sea trials of new ATB unit

Bouchard ready for sea trials of new ATB unit    Bouchard Transportation Co. is ready to start sea trials of the first of two newly outfitted double-hull oceangoing articulated tug and barge (ATB) units.
   Work on the ATBs is being down at Bollinger Shipyards in Louisiana.
   “Our management initiated an aggressive building plan that includes the retrofit of single-hull barges and a new building program which includes two new articulated tugs and barges that will strategically position the organization in the petroleum transportation industry,” said Morton Bouchard III, president and chief executive officer of the company in a statement.
   “The new double-hull ATB units are major components of a business plan that will take us to where we want to be by 2005,” he said.
   The first new barge, B. No. 255, with an 110,000-barrel capacity, will be 430-feet long, with a 79-foot beam and a depth of 34 feet. The second barge, B. No. 242, a 135,000-barrel capacity, will be 487-feet long, with an 80-foot beam and a depth of 36.6 feet. Both manned barges have been built with generators and living quarters for four crew.
   The two new articulate tugs will be named “Jane A. Bouchard” and “Morton S. Bouchard.” Each tug is 130-feet long with a 38-foot beam.