Page 46: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 15, 1977)

New Maritime Firm

Port Fabricators, Inc.

Active In Louisiana

Port Fabricators, Inc., special- izing in the design, construction, maintenance and repairs of facil- ities and equipment for the pe- troleum and marine industry, has recently been established at the

Port of New Iberia, La. Occupy- ing a 12-acre waterfront site, the new industry represents a "total investment of over $1,000,000 in land, buildings and equipment, and is expected to provide new job opportunities for over 200

Acadiana citizens within the next year," it was announced by Louis

J. Michot, secretary-treasurer of the new Port of New Iberia in- dustry.

Associated with Mr. Michot are

R.L. Burton, president and gen- eral manager; S.B. Kelly, vice president-engineering, and Mi- chael Keating, director and sales.

Mr. Burton, a native of Orange,

Texas, attended North Texas Uni- versity and Lamar Tech, and gained his experience through 14 years of steel and aluminum fab- rication with Levingston Ship- building Company of Orange,

Texas. He held the position of general fabrication superintend- ent at Levingston when he re- signed to join Gulf Overseas, Inc.

Philips launches a new generation of high-security radio-telex sys- tems, designed to provide error free communications between ships at sea and telex terminals anywhere in the world.

The new STB-750 transmission error eliminator, inserted between the ship's HF receiver and a tele- printer, converts any shipboard or offshore radio room to a full fledged telex terminal. It offers the comprehensive ARQ/FEC capabil- ity of its predecessor, the STB-75, now installed and operating on over 600 vessels and offshore plat- forms. And in addition, it provides selective FEC operation, keyboard dialing, end-of-communication facility, and many other features.

Best of all, it's built by Philips, the developers of the world's first ARQ, teleprinting-over-radio equipment over a decade ago. The company that equipped over 30 TOR coastal stations, and has far more experi- ence in radio-telex than all other manufacturers combined.

PHILIPS

If you're concerned with ship- board communications, or you are a marine communications equip- ment dealer, contact Philips for complete STB-750 specifications.

We'll help you launch your program.

In the USA, contact North Ameri- can Philips Corp., Communica- tions Systems Division, 31 McKee

Drive, Mahwah, N.J. 07430. For other countries, contact Philips

Telecommunicatie Industrie B.V.,

Hilversum, Netherlands. in New Iberia. He was general manager of this firm before join- ing the Port Fabrication team.

Mr. Kelly, of Lafayette, is a grad- uate of the University of South- western Louisiana in petroleum engineering, was formerly with

Mobil Oil Co. as construction fore- man, senior production foreman and engineer, and with Tenneco as area engineer. He has 10 years total experience in oil industry engineering and design. Mr. Keat- ing, a Lafayette native, attended the University of Southwestern

Louisiana, and has been active in business in the Lafayette area for several years, and has been re- cently engaged in heavy equip- ment sales for Road Equipment

Company of Lafayette. "Our company actually com- menced operations in June and today we have some 50 employees, with our present contracts ex- ceeding $1,000,000 and an addi- tional $3.2 million under negoti- ation and on our drawing boards.

Because of the diversified ex- pertise of our key people, our capabilities cover the wide range from construction of onshore and offshore oil and gas structures of various types, to ship and barge building and repairs," stated Mr.

Burton. "Although most of our current work is for oil-related firms serving the Gulf Coast area, we hope to sign agreements in our

Shipbuilding Division for the con- struction of two 120-foot utility- cargo vessels for a large Euro- pean operator, three fishing ves- sels for a Middle East country, and a 165-foot cargo-supply ves- sel for a south Louisiana boat company," he said.

Mr. Michot, who is former

State Superintendent of Educa- tion and Lafayette Parish Legis- lator, and founder of the chain of Burger Chef Restaurants in

Louisiana and Mississippi, has ventured into oil and gas activ- ities in the last two years. He is president of Offshore Services &

Transportation, Inc., a Lafayette- based firm operating a fleet of off- shore crew-utility vessels in the

Gulf of Mexico. The Lafayette native's other business interests are real estate development, in- surance, oil and gas exploration, and banking.

Chemical Firm Applies

For Title XI To Build

Two Tank Barges

K.A. Steel Chemicals, Inc., 2700

River Road, Des Plaines, 111., has applied to the Maritime Adminis- tration for a Title XI guarantee to aid in financing the construc- tion of two 200-foot by 35-foot in- dependent tank, chemical barges.

The barges, which will be used in the U.S. domestic waterway system, are to be constructed by

Jeffboat, Inc., Jeffersonville, Ind.

The operating agreement with contract carriers who are to tow the vessels has not been finalized. 50 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

Bon Voyage