Main Iron Works Completes First Towboat For Kirby

Main Iron Works owner Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr. recently announced completion of the first of three 2,680 hp. towboats the shipyard is building for Kirby Inland Marine. The vessel, named the mv. Bailey, is a Sterling Marine design and measures 88 feet by 35 feet, with a molded depth of 12 feet 2 inches and a draft of 9 feet.

Cenac expressed thanks for the partnership between Main Iron Works and Kirby, particularly for the impact it has in the Houma, La., community.

“In this economy, it is important to keep industry jobs on a local level, and Cenac Marine and Main Iron Works are honored to have a part in that,” Cenac said.

The twin-screw mv. Bailey features two Caterpillar 3512C-HD main engines paired with Twin Disc MD-5600 reduction gears with a 6.04:1 ratio and a shaft braking system. Ship service power comes from a pair of 99 kw. John Deere generators. Rio Marine supplied the vessel’s electric/hydraulic control system and both the main and flanking steering systems.

The mv. Bailey can carry 40,434 gallons of fuel, 8,000 gallons of potable water, and 800 gallons of lube oil and gear oil.

The vessel has accommodations for a crew of eight.

The mv. Bailey features a Rawson Koenig deck crane, two 40-ton hydra-electric deck winches from Nabrico, and a car puller capstan system. Inland Gulf Marine Inc. outfitted the mv. Bailey with its electronics suite, including the following: two Furuno 2117BB/DC 12 kw. radars paired with 19-inch flatscreen monitors, a Furuno FA170 AIS transponder, a BR500 bridge navigational watch alarm system, LH5000 hailer and sonic weather sensor, RD33 data display/GP33 GPS receiver and 235 DT transducer, four GX6000 VHF radios (three in the wheelhouse and one in the galley), a Jotron CIS 3000 command intercom with talk back/Radio Zeeland swing meter, and a Richie HE 845 magnetic compass. The vessel also features a perimeter HD camera system and is HDTV/Satellite TV-ready in all rooms below the wheelhouse and WIFI-ready throughout the boat.

“It is a pleasure working with Main Iron Works on the construction of one of the first Subchapter M towboats being built,” Kirby Inland Marine Senior Vice President of Maintenance John Sansing said in a statement. “We appreciate Main Iron Works’ professionalism and work ethic.”

Kirby Inland Marine operates close to 1,000 tank barges and more than 300 towboats on the nation’s inland waterways, transporting petrochemicals, refined products, oil products and liquid fertilizers. The company operates on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Mississippi, Illinois and Ohio rivers, as well as other smaller waterways.