Bergeron Industries, Inc. recently delivered four tank barges from their Braithwaite, La., marine facility, marking the company's entrance into a new product line. Long a major designer and builder of deck barges, Bergeron is using this experience in tank barge construction.
Bear 232 (pictured above) is the second of two single-skin tank barges designed and built for Alabama River Towing of Mobile. The barges measure 264 feet by 50 feet by 11 feet, and have a total tank capacity of about 23,000 barrels. They are equipped with steam coils and a stripping system. Although they are single-skin design, the barges are certified by the Coast Guard as a Type III hull for carriage of hazardous cargoes, including benzene, and possess an American Bureau of Shipping load line for limited offshore service.
N.M.S. No. 2301 was rebuilt from a 297-foot 6-inch by 54-foot by 12-foot, double-skin box-type barge for National Marine Service. The box barge was cut into two pieces, with new rake sections built and installed to produce two 205-foot by 54-foot by 12-foot semi-integrated barges. N.M.S. No. 2301 and N.M.S. No. 2300 are Coast Guard approved for Subchapter O products, and possess American Bureau of Shipping load lines for limited offshore service.