Eymard Delivers Mv. Ryan Anthony

St. Rose, La.-based Gnots Reserve Inc. has put its newest towboat to work in the company’s fleet near Mile 118 on the Lower Mississippi River. The mv. Ryan Anthony, built by Eymard Marine Construction & Repair on the Harvey Canal, is named for Ryan Hayes, Gnots Reserve’s port engineer.

Hayes joined the company as a college-aged kid in November 1997, but he’d known the Wise family for long before that. In elementary school, Hayes was friends with one of Gnots Reserve President Dan Wise’s sons.

“Ryan stayed with us a lot when he was a young kid,” Wise said. “He’s family to us.”

And so, when Hayes was at a point of decision after high school, Wise naturally gave him a shot at working on the river.

“Dan had just purchased the mv. Koolcat, which we sold just a few years ago,” Hayes said. “It was an Eckstein boat that had burned. I was a young kid struggling to decide if I wanted to finish college or not. He gave me an opportunity to come out here and see if I’d like doing mechanic work. I was given a grinder and a paint brush for the first few months.”

Looking back on those first months with Gnots Reserve, Hayes said they truly helped set the course of his life.

“That boat was a lot of things to me because I learned so much about vessels by being in the bilge or in the fuel tanks, in the holds, in the stern,” he said. “At the time, it almost felt like a punishment, but upon reflection, it really paid off for my career.”

For about his first decade with the company, Hayes learned from longtime Gnots Reserve port engineer Alfred Boffone. Hayes knew he was in the right place.

“I just loved it,” he said. “When I started here, I wasn’t sure what my life would look like, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted it to be something in this industry. The people, the responsibilities, all that. I couldn’t get enough of it.”

When the port engineer position came open, Wise gave Hayes the opportunity to fill that role.

“At the time, I don’t know that I knew whether I was ready or not, but I knew I wanted it,” Hayes said.

Ever since, Hayes has focused on getting better each day and doing his best to help manage the company’s fleet of towboats, which now stands at 10. Most of those vessels work in Gnots Reserve’s 400-barge fleet, which is located near Mile 118 on both banks of the Lower Mississippi River. The company serves ADM Ama’s grain elevator, along with Bunge’s Destrehan grain elevator.

“We have a dry dock here and a wash and repair facility,” Hayes said. “A lot of what we do here is based on Bunge Destrehan and SCF, one of our larger customers. That’s the lion’s share of what we do.”

The company also has a pair of towboats that operate between Myrtle Grove and Baton Rouge, and Gnots also services St. John Fleeting in Reserve.

With Dan Wise semi-retired, his children, Dane Wise and Danielle Hymel, now run the company. Hayes said Wise and Hymel pulled him into the office one day to show him the list of potential names for the new boat. He was surprised to see his name on the list.

“I said, ‘I’m not picking my own name, but that’s a nice gesture,’” Hayes said. “We had a good laugh, but they talked about it and decided it was something they wanted to do.

“Obviously, it’s a very, very, very nice gesture,” he added. “It’s a compliment, that’s for sure. And it’s weird, too. I like to think of these vessels as living things, so it’s kind of weird in that respect.”

The Mv. Ryan Anthony

The fourth “spindle top” towboat in Gnots Reserve’s fleet, the mv. Ryan Anthony features an octagonal pilothouse atop a spindle, with no middle deck. The first boat in that series is the mv. Damian Wise, followed by the Ms. Danielle and the Jack Estes.

Eymard delivered the mv. Jack Estes just last year.

Besides offering wheelmen a 360-degree view, the octagonal pilothouse atop a spindle, in eliminating the need for a second deck, enhances stability and maneuverability, both with a tow and light boat, even in high water.

“It’s a little more nimble digging in and out of tiers, getting around, and with its speed, too,” Hayes said. “Our fleet is a couple of miles long, so we lighten up the boat and get the bow up to where they can pick up speed, navigating back and forth light boat, so this increases efficiency.”

New for the mv. Ryan Anthony, Gnots Reserve eliminated the lower windows in the other three similar vessels, opting instead for larger windows and a lower dash. Hayes said the Gnots team also swapped the hatch on the bow from the Jack Estes for a doghouse stairwell. This time, Gnots went with Cummins generators as well.

Like the Jack Estes, the Entech & Associates-designed mv. Ryan Anthony measures 64 by 27 by 9.6 feet with an 8-foot draft—a foot wider than the other two vessels in the series. That extra foot, Hayes said, further enhances its stability.

When fully loaded to a draft of 8 feet, it is capable of carrying 18,900 gallons of fuel and 6,370 gallons of potable water.

The new twin-screw vessel is powered by a pair of Cummins QSK19-M main engines from Cummins Mid-South that produce 1,320 hp. The main engines turn Sound four-blade, 68- by 53-inch propellers from Jefferson Propeller on 6-inch, cold-rolled shafts with Thordon TG100 dripless tailshaft seals and RiverTough tailshaft bearings. Thordon also supplied ThorPlas-Blue rudder bearings, ThorPlas-Blue steering linkage bushings and SXL thrust washers.

The Ryan Anthony has Twin Disc 5222 gearboxes from Sewart with a reduction ratio of 6.1:1. The engines are cooled by Duraweld grid coolers from East Park Radiator. The steering and flanking rudders are controlled by an electric-over-hydraulic, full follow-up system manufactured by Hydra Force. Unlimited Control & Supply provided the vessel’s alarm system.

The vessel has one stateroom with a double bunk and a bathroom. DiSalvo Marine supplied the six-man Seahorse marine sanitation system. The Ryan Anthony features a galley outfitted with granite countertops and Spanish cedar cabinets.

The engine room fire suppression system is from Hiller, while the sound proofing and perforated metal in the engine room are from Marine & Industrial Insulation Inc.

Wheelhouse Electronics provided the vessel’s electronics package, including two Koden radars. Two 19-inch Carlisle & Finch search lights adorn the top of the pilothouse. On deck, the mv. Ryan Anthony is equipped with three 40-ton Wintech winches, two on the main deck and one centered on the fleet deck for handling empties. Wintech supplied the vessel’s roller buttons, while Donovan Marine provided the kevels. Fendering is by Schuyler.

The mv. Ryan Anthony went to work for Gnots Reserve July 21. An 11th towboat for Gnots Reserve is currently under construction at Verret Shipyard in Plaquemine, La., with that vessel expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year.