FMC Marine And Rail Launches Fourth Ro/Ro Barge For Crowley

The Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC Corporation, Portland, Ore., r e c e n t ly launched the fourth in a series of four of the world's largest r o l l - o n / r o l l - o f f (ro/ro) barges.

The 580-foot-long t r i p l e - d e ck trailer barge (shown above) was delivered in December to her owners, Crowley Maritime Corporation, San Francisco, Calif. Christened El Rey, the barge will be operated in Caribbean trade by Trailer Marine Transport Corporation, a Crowley company.

John E. Carroll Jr., FMC division manager, said: "We are especially proud of our on-schedule performance in the construction of these ro/ro barges, and we feel we have again demonstrated our competitiveness as a barge yard.

After El Rey is delivered, two specialized barges are scheduled to be constructed for other customers." In a traditional launching ceremony, Gail Merriam, wife of Crowley executive vice president J. Alec Merriam, christened El Rey by breaking a bottle of champagne against the steel hull. Sec- onds later, a large crowd of guests, employees and their f a m i l i es watched El Rey reach a speed of 20 miles per hour before splashing into the Willamette River from FMC's side launch ways.

El Rey will operate between Trailer Marine Transport's home ports in Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico. All three decks on the barges are designed to be loaded with truck trailers simultaneously from tri-level loading ramps in each port.

Based in San Francisco, Crowley is a major international marine t r a n s p o r t a t i o n firm. In recent years, FMC has built several b a r g e s f o r Crowley, including oceangoing oil barges, deck cargo barges, and three sister barges to El Rey.

The Marine and Rail Equipment Division of FMC is a manufacturer of two types of transportation equipment in Portland — marine vessels and railroad freight cars.

Other stories from January 15, 1980 issue

Content

Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.