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BARGE OUTFITTING e? ted the shipyard’s bottom line. “We’ve got some weld- equipment in the winter time. Right now, I’m working on ers from Mount Vernon, Indiana working at Chicago Dry a tank barge – a 300’x60’ foot tank barge – the Andrie out

Dock because it is so busy at moment,” explained Hogan. of Muskegon, MI. Every year they come in here and we

And, the ability to service both geographic markets gives do 3-4 weeks of maintenance. In this case, we’re installing

TPG access to more business and more versatile work. It’s new tank piping. I’m also working on a bulk cement car- a good hedge against down economy in one sector or the rier, the St. Mary’s Challenger, at the port of Chicago.” In other, says Hogan, adding, “Our business mix at present service for more than 110 years, the vessel was converted consists of about 40 percent Great Lakes bulkers, 20 per- recently into an ATB barge.” cent passenger vessels (mostly from the Chicago markets), As MarineNews went to press, the yard also had a num- and 40 percent inland – mostly barges.” ber of standard, Mississippi river sized barges in for service.

Hogan told MarineNews in April, “We’re swamped TPG’s barge work spans a wide range of services. “We have right now. Everybody wants to do maintenance on their a bunch of different segments to the business,” explains Ho- gan. He continued, “We clean dry cargo barges, do topside repairs on cargo barges – ? berglass and cover repairs, hopper repairs and we also drydock dry cargo barges utilizing the two ? oating drydocks.” The yard also services virtually all of the passenger vessels that run out of Chicago that operate around the Navy Pier. In the summer, though, TPG’s Chi- cago yard concentrates almost exclusively on inland work.

More recently, the shipyard has even performed some custom design and fabrication work. In this case, the proj- ect consisted of a 50’ by 18’ deck barge, built for Shoreline

Sightseeing. Finished just last month, and designed and built in-house, it will sit at the Chicago Navy pier and pas- sengers will cross over it – like a ? oating gangway. Hogan adds, “I’d love to do more of this. In fact we are ramping up our pro? le to seek out new work. We’ll concentrate on the upper Illinois River and lower Lake Michigan.”

The Mobile Shipyard

Even a centrally located shipyard has to go out and look for work. Hogan admits, “I’m always looking for a project to keep my guys occupied. It can be slow in June, July and Au- gust.” Part of that effort involves what TPG describes as its mobile shipyard concept: the ability to send teams to remote locations to satisfy the demands and unique needs of various clients – no matter where they are. Michael Hogan explains, “We work pretty much all the lower Lake Michigan ports – Burns Harbor, Gary, and Indiana Harbor and South Chi- cago. Everything is done in situ. Obviously, I prefer it when

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