Kirby buys stake in container barge company Osprey Line

Kirby buys stake in container barge company Osprey Line       Kirby Corp., the Houston-based operator of barges and tugs, is acquiring a one-third interest in Gulf container-on-barge feeder operator Osprey Line, LLC for $4.2 million, as it seeks to capitalize on an expected increase in container feeder demand in the United States.
   The remaining two-thirds of Osprey are owned by Cooper/T. Smith Corp. and Richard L. Couch.
   Formed in 2000, Osprey operates a barge feeder service for cargo containers connecting Houston, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, as well as several ports located above Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River.
   The company’s revenues for 2003 were $11.7 million.
   Joe Pyne, president and chief executive officer of Kirby, said Osprey’s container-on-barge feeder service “is very complementary with Kirby’s existing marine transportation operation.” Kirby operates 886 inland tank barges and 229 inland towing vessels, transporting petrochemicals, black oil products, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals throughout the United States inland waterway system.
   Kirby believes that demand for container-on-barge services will grow as the U.S. contends with congestion problems.
   “Osprey offers shippers direct routing of containers to and from plants and facilities along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the lower Mississippi River, as well as Gulf Coast ports for export and import,” Pyne said. “In the next five-10 years, we believe this business will develop into a key component of the U.S. transportation system, as it has already done in Europe,” he added.