Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1969)

Barge And Towing Industry Safety Contest Winners Honored At Luncheon In St. Louis Representatives of winners in the 1968 Borge and Towing Vessel Industry Sotety Con-test are shown with officials of The American Waterways Operators, Inc. ond officers of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers. Seated, left to right, are: Lester C. Bedient, general manager of The Harbor Tug & Barge Company, San Francisco, Calif.; A. E. Winholt, marine superintendent, Western Rivers, Mobil Oil Corporation, St. Louis, Mo.; Wilbur W. Cottle, branch manager, Baytown Branch, Marine Department, Humble Oil & Refining Company, Houston, Texas; Robert E. McCloskey, marine safety director, Sun Oil Company, Marcus Hook, Pa.; W. I. McElroy, vice-president, Ohio Barge Line, Inc., Dravosburg, Pa., and Capt. Alan C. Gumbert, superintendent, river transportation and marine ways, U.S. Steel Corporation, River Transportation, Clairton, Pa. Standing, from the left, are: Braxton B. Carr, president of The American Waterways Operators, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Rear Adm. Russell R. Waesche, commander. Second Coast Guard District, St. Louis, Mo.; George H. Blohm, vice-president and general man-ager of Cities Service Tankers Corporation, New York City, and chairman of the board of AWO; Col. John C. H. Lee Jr., deputy division engineer for Appalachia, Army Engi-neers Division, Ohio River, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lt. Col. Wayne F. Alch, deputy dis-trict engineer, St. Louis, Mo. Winners in the 1968 Barge and Towing Vessel Industry Safety Contest were honored guests at a reception and luncheon in St. Louis under joint sponsorship of The American Waterways Operators, Inc., and the Propeller Club of the United States, Port of St. Louis, in observance of National Mari-time Day and in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of AWO . George H. Blohm, vice-president and general manager of Cities Serv-ice Tankers Corporation, New York City, and chairman of the G. W. Gladders, (at left) president, G. W. Gladders Towing Company, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., and former chairman of the board of The American Waterways Operators, Inc., is shown receiving a commemorative gavel mounted on a plaque from his successor in the AWO post, George H. Blohm, vice-president and general manager, Cities Service Tankers Corp., New York City. board of AWO, made the safety awards presentations and called on the barge and towing industry to work harder to achieve an even bet-ter safety record than the outstand-ing one which has already been ac-complished. The luncheon celebration cli-maxed two days of meetings and events attended by executives of the barge and towing industry from throughout the United States, government officials with whom the industry works, and others. Rear Adm. Russell R. Waesche Jr., commander of the Second Coast Guard District, delivered the principal address at the luncheon, emphasizing the cooperative inter-est of the industry in improving navigational safety in towing ves-sel operations. He also outlined plans of the Coast Guard to en-hance its marine safety work. Braxton B. Carr, president of AWO, traced the history of the Association, citing its aims and ac-complishments and its concomitant growth with the barge industry in the last 25 years. At the same time he pointed out some of the prob-lems facing the industry on the legislative and regulatory fronts. Also taking part in the luncheon program was Willard B. Fouts, president of the St. Louis Propel-ler Club Port. In another feature of the lunch-eon, special tribute was paid to G. W. Gladders, president of G. W. Gladders Towing Company, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., in appreciation of his services as chairman of the board of AWO in 1968. The tribute was made on behalf of the Association by Mr. Blohm, who was elected last February 26 as chairman of the board of AWO. The safety contest, which is co-sponsored by the National Safety Council and AWO, is divided into three categories. One is composed of companies engaged in push-tow-ing operations. Another is made up of vessels engaged in pull-towing or towing-along-side operations. And the third category is for har-bor boat operations. Some com-panies engaged in more than one category of operations and par-ticipated in more than one division of the contest. U.S. Steel Corporation, River Transportation, Clairton, Pa. was first-place winner among contes-tants engaged in push-towing op-erations. Ohio Barge Line, Inc., Dravos-burg, Pa., was second-place win-ner. A third-place award in this cate-gory went to Western Transporta-tion Company, Portland, Ore. Perfect record certificates in the push-towing operations division of the contest were won by Sun Oil Company, Marcus Hook. Pa.; Mo-bil Oil Corporation, Western Riv-ers; Humble Oil & Refining Com-pany, Baytown Branch, and Park-er Towing Company, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Winner of the top award in the pull-towing or towing-along-side operations category was Crown Zellerbach Corporation, Canadian Tugboat Co., Ltd. The second-place winner was United Trans-portation Company. Lester C. Be-dient, general manager of The Harbor Tug & Barge Company, San Francisco, Calif., accepted the award on behalf of United Trans-portation. The Harbor Tug & Barge Company was third-place winner. Winner of the top award honor in the harbor boat operations cat-egory of the contest was The Har-bor Tug & Barge Company. All of the winners maintained perfect safety records in 1968. Mr. Blohm paid tribute to the leadership of Ralph A. Guffey, A. L. Mechling Barge Lines Inc., Joliet, 111., who as chairman of AWO's Safety Committee played a major role in planning and execut-ing AWO's safety program of which the Barge and Towing Ves-sel Industry Safety Contest is a part. The luncheon celebration was the final event of a series of meet-ings of AWO directors, members and committees. A mid-continent navigation conference, with officials of the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard partici-pating, also was part of the pro-gram. Speakers at the conference in-cluded Admiral Waesche; Brig. Gen. C. Craig Cannon, Missouri River division engineer, Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Neb.; Col. John C. H. Lee Jr., deputy di-vision engineer for Appalachia, Army Engineers Division, Ohio River, Cincinnati, Ohio; Col. Paul R. Sheffield, deputy division engi-neer, Lower Mississippi Valley Di-vision, Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Miss., and Col. Richard J. Hesse, St. Paul District Engi-neer, Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, Minn. David A. Wright, president, Na-tional Marine Service Incorpor-ated, St. Louis, was chairman of a special committee of AWO han-dling arrangements for the Associ-tion's anniversary celebration and joint arrangements with the St. Louis Propeller Club Port for the National Maritime Day celebration. AWO represents the national in-terests of the barge and towing in-dustry. The Association was incor-porated in the State of Delaware on May 22, 1944. The first meet-ing of the members of the Associ-ation was held in St. Louis on May 26, 1944. Eastern Gas And Fuel Elects John N. Philips Exec. Vice-President John N. Philips has been elected executive vice-president of Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, parent company of a group of coal and water transportation companies with headquarters in Boston. Esso Int'l. Elects Peyton And Anderson Senior Vice-Presidents The board of directors of Esso International Inc., worldwide mark-eting, transportation and supply af-filiate of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), has announced the elections of I. C. Anderson and C. O. Peyton as senior vice-presi-dents and regular members of the executive committee. Mr. Anderson, a chemical engi-neering graduate of Syracuse Uni-versity, joined the Jersey organiza-tion in New York in 1937 and the following year transferred to Lago Oil & Transport Company, Ltd., an affiliate on the island of Aruba, Netherlands West Indies. He joined Esso Research and Engineering Company in 1942, and in 1947, he joined the New York office of Creole Petroleum Corpora-tion, Jersey's Venezuelan affiliate, where he held a number of execu-tive sales posts. He was elected a vice-president of Creole in 1960 and held that position until his election as a vice-president of Esso Inter-national in 1961. He was elected a director of the company in 1966. Mr. Peyton was also elected a director of the company in 1966. Prior to that he had been a vice-president and general manager of the supply department. A graduate of Louisiana State University, he began his career in the oil industry in 1942 at the Ba-ton Rouge refinery of Esso Stand-ard Oil Company, now part of Humble Oil & Refining Company, Jersey's principal domestic affiliate. He joined Esso International Inc. in 1961. 10 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News