Kirby buys inland barge fleet from SEACOR Holdings

The largest domestic tank barge operator in United States has expanded its fleet with the acquisition of 27 inland tank barges and 13 inland towboats, plus one tank barge and one towboat currently under construction.    Kirby Corp. has signed an agreement to purchase the inland tank barge fleet of Seacor Holdings Inc. for approximately $88 million in cash, the company said in a statement.
   Kirby is buying 27 inland 30,000 barrel tank barges and 13 inland towboats, plus one 30,000 barrel tank barge and one towboat currently under construction.
   As part of the agreement, Kirby will also transfer to Seacor the ownership of one Florida-based ship docking tugboat.
   Seacor, through its subsidiary SCF Waxler Marine LLC, transports refined petroleum products, petrochemicals and black oil on the Mississippi River System and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The closing of the asset purchase is expected to occur early in the second quarter of 2016 and is subject to certain customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
   Kirby Corporation, based in Houston, Texas, is the nation’s largest domestic tank barge operator, transporting bulk liquid products throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along all three coasts and in Alaska and Hawaii.