Page 24: of Marine News Magazine (June 2011)

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24 MN June 2011

Charting the Future

In the Annual Leadership Edition of MarineNews we bring you a line up of executives with insights on market conditions, legislation and business strategies for the coastal and inland waterways and salvage fields; an insiders view on trends that will define the workboat market for years to come.

Leadership Edition

What is your outlook for the market you serve in 2011/2012 and beyond?

CHARLES JONES, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD,

AMHERSTMADISON All our line boats are chartered to companies that own dry cargo barges and they are pre- dominately in the coal trade. Despite adverse publicity we will continue to use substantial quantities of coal to pro- duce electricity and for at least the next five years we look for a substantial export market of coal, both thermal and metallurgical, from the Gulf ports. In addition, we feel the aggregate trade will maintain itself for the same period because highway maintenance alone is so far behind schedule. We also feel that petroleum products and chem- icals will maintain themselves.

JOHN ECKSTEIN, CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO,

MARQUETTE MARINE TRANSPORTATION After our next new builds are delivered we will have over 800 barges, but our primary business is as a boat operator. I was excited about the prospects for a strong 2011 and even stronger 2012. U.S. farmers were planting a large crop and export demand was looking strong. This combined with a large coal export program and improving northbound and liq- uid demand pointed to high demand for horsepower.

However, the current flooding is not only hurting current operations but could have lingering negative effects on demand as crop conditions deteriorate. I do feel that demand for horsepower will continue to be strong as the stress on the system will continue to negatively impact logistics. All in all, I am still bullish long term, especially for horsepower.

JOHN ARNOLD WITTE, JR., EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,

DONJON As a result of Donjon’s business philosophy, “diversity of service,” we are always hopeful when looking to the future. While Donjon’s first area of concentration was exclusively marine salvage and related services, over the last 45 plus years Donjon has diversified into the areas of heavy lift, marine transportation, dredging, construc- tion and support and, most recently, shipbuilding and repair through our acquisition of Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair located on Lake Erie in Erie, Penn. While one area of service may be slow, one or all of the other areas are likely not. As far as our outlook for 2011/2012, we see a positive upswing in the marine industry as a whole. This is evidenced by the recent increase in our heavy lift steve- doring, dredging, vessel and metals recycling and marine transportation services. Marine salvage, while a core

Donjon business, is on the decline due to increased liabil- ities to vessel owner/operators as a result of legislation like the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. But, as long as vessels con-