Greg Trauthwein
-
- Double Delivery Houma Style Marine News, Oct 2013 #42
Last month MarineNews was on hand in Houma, La., for a festive double celebration marking the delivery of a pair of high spec 95-ft. towboats for LeBeouf Bros. Towing.
To say that Jon Gonsoulin knows how to throw a party is an understatement. The ubiquitous president of LeBeouf Bros. Towing, LLC of Houma, La., hosted a double delivery celebration without compare last month at his home; one which saw LeBeouf and Gonsoulin welcome the MV Karl Senner and MV Dickie Gonsoulin to the LeBeouf Bros. fleet.
The party was unique not simply because of the arrival of the two new boats from the company’s own Bourg Dry Dock, but also because it went beyond steel, machinery and paint; signifying a business relationship between Karl Senner LLC and LeBeouf Bros. Towing that spans more than 40 years.
Geared for Success
The inland towing business is filled with history, characters and long tales of business partnerships, and the partnership between LeBeouf Bros. Towing and Karl Senner LLC – forged more than 45 years ago between Karl Senner and Dickie Gonsoulin – is one such story. Created by Karl Senner and Dickie Gonsoulin and extended today by Ralph Senner and Jon Gonsoulin, it all started in 1967 aboard the M/V Mary R, which was a single screw tugboat purchased by LeBeouf Brothers Towing after its incorporation in 1944. Mary R was originally powered with an Atlas six-cylinder, 160 hp engine. In 1955, the vessel was repowered with an Enterprise 6 cylinder inline “M” engine rated 400 hp at 800 rpm. Mary R sank in 1957, and after the vessel was recovered from the waters of Texas City harbor, it was refurbished and placed back into service.
In 1967, Karl Senner sold his first Reintjes gearbox for installation in the United States to LeBeouf Brothers towing. The Reintjes WAV 721 gearbox was installed in the Mary R for use with the Enterprise 6 cylinder inline “M” engine. The Mary R operated successfully with no major repairs to the Reintjes gearbox from date of installation until the vessel was taken out of service in December 1981.
The gearbox was summarily pulled out and returned to Karl Senner, who cleaned it up and made it a centerpiece of the company exhibit at the Workboat Show in New Orleans. While it eventually was returned to Reintjes in Germany for display, last month, there it was again at Gonsoulin’s home in Houma, on display at the double delivery celebration.
For Ralph Senner and his family, who were out in force with hundreds of invited guests, the tribute to his father and family was clearly moving, as this is the first boat to bear the name MV Karl Senner. Gonsoulin said the tribute to Senner and his father, Dickie, was clearly appropriate.
“Considering that Mr. Karl and dad were very dear friends for all of these years, it’s a befitting time with the delivery of sister boats to have them both be named in their honor.”
The Yard
While the long business ties provided a nice backdrop, the center of attention literally and figuratively are the boats. In an interview earlier this summer, Gonsoulin repeatedly stressed the high level of finish on his company’s new boats, a strategy that helps the company recruit and keep its quality crew in a time when quality crew is at a premium. Upon closer inspection, the vessels appeared even better outfitted than Gonsoulin let on, with spacious and well-appointed accommodations, an ultra modern galley area with granite countertops, and a state-of-the-art gym.
Gonsoulin currently builds for himself at Bourg Dry Dock, a shipyard he started in 2005 in the wake of hurricane Katrina, when a local shipyard who had bid on one of their jobs essentially said they could not bid the project. “Having your own yard allows you a lot of flexibility,” Gonsoulin said. “It might cost a bit more in the short term, but in the long term, building yourself, building it better to your spec, it makes a lot of sense to me to build it stronger from the beginning.”
Jon is third-generation in the business, and he said the decision was made to start building boats in-house back in December of 2005. “That lit a fire under me to build my own equipment. I started building my own tank barges. The first two barges were delivered in Q1 2008, and we’re about to launch barge 537, so we’ve built 37 barges between 2008 and now.”
While attracting the right people to crew the boats is essential, so too is attracting shipyard talent, and Gonsoulin feels he has one of the best in the business running his yard, 33-year veteran Bobby Bartel.
Bartel worked for 27 years at Quality Marine, and another five at Gulf Island, before joining forces with Gonsoulin in 2012 to run Bourg Dry Dock, which today employs about 250, has the capacity to build four or five boats and about 10 barges per year. “I like building towboats, and he had a nice panel line,” said Bartel, explaining why he decided to join Bourg. “It’s a nice family run operation and I thought it was a good time for a change.”
For a boatbuilder, the Gonsoulin philosophy is a welcome one, in that he believes investing a bit more upfront – whether it be on thicker steel plate for sturdier barges or a more rugged Reintjes gear to ensure decades of trouble-free performance – is the prudent financial move for companies that make a living moving product on the waterways, versus companies that view their boats and barges are mere assets to be bought, sold and traded for financial gain.
“It’s simple,” Bartel said. “Jon tells me to build it right, and that’s what we do.”
While Bourg Dry Dock traditionally has built only for LeBeouf Bros. Towing, Bartel said it is currently building four barges for other customers, and is also considering additional outside orders for boats and barges.
The M/V Karl Senner and the M/V Dickie Gonsoulin are Entech & Associates Inc.-designed boats, the second and third of a five boat series, all measuring 95 x 34 feet. MV Karl Senner has Mitsubishi S12-RY2MPTK-3 power and the MV Dickie Gonsoulin is powered by Caterpillar 3512s. All, naturally, will have Reintjes gears. Start to finish, each boat took about 11 months to build, Bartel said, with the Karl delivered in July 2013 and the Dickie, in September 2013. Bartel said there weren’t any unique challenges to building the boats, other than ensuring that they were nice, live-on friendly vessels.
(As published in the October 2013 edition of Marine News - www.marinelink.com)
-
- Risk Breakers: Henrik O. Madsen CEO, DNV Maritime Logistics Professional, Q1 2013 #24
Risk is a mantra at Det Norske Veritas (DNV), and to be fair, at every major classification society. By their very nature, the identification, management and mitigation of risk runs through every aspect of class. Sitting atop DNV – and if the recently announced merger goes through, the combined DNV &
-
- Risk Breakers: Anthony Chiarello, CEO, TOTE Inc. Maritime Logistics Professional, Q1 2013 #30
Anthony Chiarello, President & CEO, TOTE, Inc., is a fourth-generation maritime professional, starting with his great grandfather who owned a ferry service from Sicily to North Africa. When the family emigrated to the U.S. in the late 1800s, Chiarello Brothers (later changed to American Stevedores) was
-
- MLC 2006 & You Maritime Logistics Professional, Q3 2013 #62
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” I must admit, I am a little bit confused. Through the course of more than 20 years covering the global commercial maritime industry which entailed thousands of interviews and discussions with top executives in shipping companies of nearly every size
-
- Five Minutes With Trond K. Johannessen Maritime Reporter, Feb 2013 #12
Trond K. Johannessen President & CEO, Hatteland Display Trond K. Johannessen, President & CEO, Hatteland Display, shares with MR his insights on the evolution and future direction of this Marine Electronics subsector, modern marine displays. Please tell us how you came to lead Hatteland Display.
-
- A USV Franchise Grows Strong in Abu Dhabi Maritime Reporter, Feb 2013 #34
As the evolution and integration of robotics in maritime vehicles continues to reshape missions and capabilities inland, near-shore and at sea, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News last month was on hand in Abu Dhabi for the unveiling of a new Unmanned Surface Vessel family. If it delivers as designed
-
- Ready for Launch: MTN Nexus Targets high-volume Cruise Market Maritime Reporter, Feb 2013 #38
MTN Satellite Communications launched MTN Nexus, a next-generation comms network billed as a hybrid that integrates it with new terrestrial wireless technologies as well as sophisticated computing, powerful processing and specialized optimization. Targeting the high volume cruise sector, MR thought an apt
-
- WSS’ Global Quest Maritime Reporter, Apr 2013 #48
With the earning of ABS global approval for its safety services and the opening of a Houston Training facility, Wilhelmsen Ships Services (WSS) passed two critical milestone’s in a quest to build and operate an efficient, technically superior maritime and offshore services juggernaut. More than a decade
-
- Nor Crane Powers Ahead Maritime Reporter, Apr 2013 #56
At less than 10 years old, Nor Crane is a relatively new name in deck machinery. While short on years, it is long on experience, with an impressive order book, too. Nor Crane is not unlike a number of other Norwegian technology companies in that it has a history strongly rooted in the country’s offshore
-
- The Glass Half Full Maritime Reporter, Apr 2013 #6
, high-value sector of the industry is a decided ‘silver lining’ for many builders and suppliers alike, and a strong cause for optimism going forward. Gregory R. Trauthwein, Editor & Associate Publisher [email protected] (As published in the April 2013 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering
-
- Dr. Shashi Kumar Maritime Reporter, Jun 2013 #44
We had the privilege to pick the brain of Dr. Shashi Kumar (right) a Master Mariner, Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow and Professor Emeritus of International Business and Logistics, for his take on a wide range of maritime matters near and far. A market boom starting in 2014? The long-term effects of
-
- “Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics” Maritime Reporter, Jun 2013 #6
Popularized by Mark Twain and generally credited to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)*, the above line, which in its full form is “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” is one of my favorites. This being our June 2013 “Yearbook” edition, a publicatio
-
)
March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 43Discovery Image courtesy Teledyne Marine New Products Teledyne Marine had its traditional mega-booth at Oi, busy start to ? nish. Image courtesy Greg Trauthwein offers quality sub-bottom pro? ling capability without the need tion of offshore windfarms. GeoPulse 2 introduces new capa- for any dedicated
-
)
March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 42NEW TECH OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 Image courtesy Greg Trauthwein Image courtesy BIRNS MacArtney launches the new ultra-compact ø12.7 mm SubConn Nano connector. Innovative connectivity built on 45 years of ? eld-proven and market-trusted design. Image courtesy MacArtney Birns celebrated its 70th
-
)
March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 30is ? tted with low-im- model different scenarios to reduce this impact, says Dr pact tracks, and to further limit sediment disturbance, it has a Greg Stone, Chief Ocean Scientist. ? nes rejection system. Research conducted by Nauru Ocean Resources, a subsid- This type of technology was ? rst tested
-
)
March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 4Anniversary’ edition of Oi was relegated to an President & COO online only event; and the 2022 version – fresh off (most of) the world opening up post- Gregory R. Trauthwein [email protected] COVID – was a mere shell of its former self. MTR participated in the 2022 event, but I skipped it as we
-
)
April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 20the sidelines of a ? oating wind conference in Houston to offer insights on the pace, direction and hurdles to overcome in U.S. offshore wind. By Greg Trauthwein © Mike Mareen/Adobe Stock 20 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • April 2024 MR #4 (18-33).indd 20 4/5/2024 8:14:13 A
-
)
April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 6[email protected] lost propulsion and the ability to steer, President & COO Publisher & Editor crashing into and taking down a large Greg Trauthwein Photo Justin Zurre [email protected] section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The scope of this tragic event will echo Sobeck is charged
-
)
April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 2VP of Global Offshore Wind dissects market movements in U.S., as well as 10 Maritime Safey the vast potential in ? oating wind. SIRE 2.0 By Greg Trauthwein 12 Back to the Drawing Board Ef? ciency & Sustainability 24 MSC Turns 75 14 Book Review Rear Admiral Philip Sobeck discusses MSC’s 75 year
-
)
April 2024 - Marine News page: 4and technological evolutions John C. O’Malley • [email protected] increasingly make their presence felt across Publisher & Editorial Director Greg Trauthwein • [email protected] sectors, from tankers to tugboats. Evidence of these major changes can Editor Eric Haun • [email protected] be
-
)
February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 38Shipping (MMMCZCS) has set out to develop a design for a large 15,000-TEU ammonia-fueled container vessel. Image Seaspan Corporation/Foreship By Greg Trauthwein orking with ship designer Foreship and the in large quantities for various industrial purposes, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Sea- and
-
)
February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 26of the ARC ? eet and logistics network, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead for U.S.-? ag ships in the international trade. By Greg Trauthwein y the numbers’ is a simplis- “We’ve fully recapitalized our ? eet portant that that program stays strong tic means to gauge the size since
-
)
February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 22of decarbonization, energy transition and autonomy all inspire Image courtesy Wabtec and impact the marine power solutions from Wabtec. By Greg Trauthwein Matt, to start us off, can you provide insight on Wabtec is huge, pervasive in power across in- the journey to your present position? dustries
-
)
February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 6groups [email protected] aiming to disrupt commerce by ? ring President & COO Publisher & Editor rockets and drones at commercial ships Greg Trauthwein Photo Justin Zurre [email protected] traversing the Red Sea, military spend- ing continues to increase globally, and energies take a
-
)
February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 2, offers insights on how the megatrends of decar- bonization, energy transition and autonomy drive engine innovations. 4 Authors & Contributors By Greg Trauthwein 6 Editorial 8 Training Tips for Ships Addressing Barriers 26 ARC: Keeping Cargo Rolling 10 Back to the Drawing Board Eric P. Ebeling, President
-
)
February 2024 - Marine News page: 4.S. offshore CEO wind industry. John C. O’Malley • [email protected] Philip Lewis, director of research at busi- Publisher & Editorial Director Greg Trauthwein • [email protected] ness intelligence and consulting ? rm In- telatus Global Partners, and author of this Editor Eric Haun • haun@marinelink
-
)
January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 57Moniz will explore different ar- eas of Subsea Technology from science to offshore energy to defense. To participate in a future podcast, contact: Greg Trauthwein @ [email protected] To listen to the ? rst DEEP DIVE podcast, visit www.MarineTechnologyNews.com or scan the QR Code www.marinetechnologynews
-
)
January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 54value proposition to the market. Newly minted Gazelle CFO Alvaro Ortega discusses the outlook for Gazelle in the offshore ? oating wind sector. By Greg Trauthwein oday, it’s acknowledged that the vast potential for depth].” offshore wind extends beyond the reach of tradi- When talk turns to ? oating wind
-
)
January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 48a range of subsea vehicles, including the fast-growing micro AUV market. Dave Fratantoni, CEO, NBOSI, discussed the tech and the market potential. By Greg Trauthwein What is NBOSI? number one’ and applied early versions of the NBOSI sen- NBOSI builds conductivity temperature depth sensors (CTDs) sor technology
-
)
January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 18of operational experience under its belt, and the goal for 2024 is completion of that trial and continuing the path toward commercialization. By Greg Trauthwein To start us off, can you give us a by the numbers look at in Ocean Engineering at Oregon State University, which is Mocean Energy today? where
-
)
January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 4.com that night were several U.S. Navy Admirals as well as the CEOs from about a dozen autonomous underwater vehicle companies, and President & COO Gregory R. Trauthwein the discussion was of considerable depth and scope regarding the navy and its need for [email protected] subsea robotics to
-
)
January 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 22uid dynamics design, took the mandate and ran with it, building a team and delivering world ? rsts in the use of hydrogen as fuel in maritime. By Greg Trauthwein 22 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • January 2024 MR #1 (18-33).indd 22 1/8/2024 11:13:11 A
-
)
January 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 8the project and its prosepcts. [Answers from the Maritime Reporter TV interview are edited for brevity and clarity] Watch the full interview @ By Greg Trauthwein Can you give a by the numbers look at the re- it’s generally agreed that there is no silver bullet sources for the project? solution. For the
-
)
January 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 62nd Floor New York, NY 10010 USA T +1.212.477.6700 CEO John C. O’Malley It’s all about [email protected] President & COO Publisher & Editor Greg Trauthwein the Molecule Photo Justin Zurre [email protected] Editor - MarineNews Eric Haun aving sat in this seat for 30+ ? uid, ? ow dynamics
-
)
January 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 2NO.1 / VOL. 86 / JANUARY 2024 22 Roy Campe shows Maritime Reporter around the CMB.TECH workshop in Antwerp. Photo: Greg Trauthwein | Photo on the Cover: courtesy CMB.TECH 8 Big Ships and a Fuel Cell Future Departments With fuel cells having the potential to play a big role in decarbonizing the mari- 4
-
)
November 2023 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 35adaptable and easy to deploy, suitable for port authorities and harbor engineers, as Jake Storey, Executive Director of Haven Dredging, explains. By Greg Trauthwein aven Dredging, launched in April 2023, is the ing the sediment from the trailer instead of going to the dis- commercial arm and a wholly owned