FMC Launches Another World's Largest Barge

The Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC Corporation, Portland, Ore., launched the second in a series of the world's largest roll-on / roll-off (ro / ro) barges on September 9. John E.

Carroll, FMC Division president, said: "The triple-deck truck trailer barge will be delivered within two weeks to her owners, Crowley Maritime Corporation, San Francisco." Christened El Conquistador, the barge will be operated in the Caribbean by Trailer Marine Transport Corporation, a Crowley company.

In a traditional ceremony, Mrs.

Thomas B. Crowley, wife of Thomas B. Crowley, chairman and president of Crowley Maritime Corporation, christened the El Conquistador by breaking a bottle of champagne against the steel hull. Seconds later, the 580- foot-long, 57-foot-high barge slid sideways into the Willamette River, reaching a speed of about 20 miles per hour before it struck the water at the end of FMC's side-launch ways.

The El Conquistador, and a sister barge delivered by FMC last April, will be operated between Trailer Marine Transport's home ports, Jacksonville and Miami, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

All three decks on the barges are designed to be loaded with truck trailer rigs simultaneously from a tri-level loading ramp in each port.

Based in San Francisco, Calif., Crowley is a major international marine transportation firm. In recent years, FMC has built several barges for Crowley, including large oil barges, deck cargo barges, and a sister barge to the El Conquistador, the La Reina.

The Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC is a manufacturer of two types of transportation equipment in Portland — a wide variety of marine equipment and railroad freight cars. The parent company, FMC Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, 111., is a major producer of machinery and chemicals for industry and agriculture, with 1977 sales of $2.29 billion. Worldwide, the company has more than 43,000 employees located at 127 manufacturing facilities in 32 states and 13 foreign countries.

The principal particulars of the El Conquistador are: length overall, 580 feet; beam, 105 feet; depth, overall, 57 feet; draft, light (estimated), 4 f e e t 10 inches; draft, loaded (summer loadline), 10 feet ll^s inches; displacement (maximum), 16,000 short tons, and cargo capacity, 374 forty and forty-five-foot truck trailers.

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