Page 66: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1989)

Jeffboat To Reopen Shipyard;

Will Resume Construction

Of Barges And Towboats —Literature Avaialble—

From left to right: John C. Ragland. president, Liberty National Bank of Southern Indiana and a director of the Campaign for Greater Louisville; Jeffersonville Mayor Dale Orem;

Jeffboat president Robert W. Greene; and Indiana Lt. Gov. Frank L. O'Bannon.

Jeffboat, a subsidiary of Ameri- can Commercial Lines Inc., recently held a press conference to announce plans to reopen its towboat and barge construction facilities at the

Jeffersonville shipyard during the third quarter of 1989. "We are looking forward to re- suming production at the Jeffboat facilities," said Robert Greene, president of the company. "We will proceed with a phased plan of pro- duction and anticipate that over the long term, we will experience a mea- sured and steady growth in our operations. "I am confident that the em- ployees of this shipyard in 1989 will continue Jeffboat's tradition of pro- ducing high-quality, state-of-the- art vessels—and delivering them at competitive prices," said Mr.

Greene. "Jeffboat's fine reputation was built this way over the last 50 years, and we intend to continue it."

Initially, production work will fo- cus on hopper barges, tank barges and towboats for inland waterways barge industry.

Beginning about midyear, ap- proximately 200 employees will be added to the Jeffboat work force.

The company currently has 70 em- ployees, who provide drydock and other repair services to the barging industry. Jeffboat plans to seek funds for employee training from the state of Indiana. In addition, the company will ask the Campaign for

Greater Louisville to assist in the rehabilitation of the facility, where vessels have not been built since 1986.

The Campaign for Greater Louis- ville presented Mr. Greene with a letter of commitment for $50,000 toward facility rehabilitation. The presentation was made by John C.

Ragland, president of the Liberty

National Bank of Southern Indiana and a director of the campaign.

Jeffboat began operations in 1938 as Jeffersonville Boat and Machine

Works. During World War II, the company built ships for the U.S.

Navy, including 124 landing ships.

Over 6,000 vessels have been launched by Jeffboat since its founding.

American Commercial Lines, a subsidiary of CSX Corporation,

Richmond, Va., is one of the na- tion's largest inland marine trans- portation companies, with affiliates in barging, marine construction, re- pair and communications. Besides,

Jeffboat, its subsidiaries include

Watercom and American Barge

Line, which operates primarily along the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri rivers and tributaries to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

For free literature detailing the vessel construction and repairing fa- cilities of Jeffboat,

Circle 84 on Reader Service Card

Cable With KAPTON And Mica.

Under Water. Or Under Fire.