Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2016)

training & education : simulation romoted to president of Bouchard Transporta- tion Company, Inc., in 1996 at the age of 32,

Morton S. Bouchard III – the president and

Bouchard

PCEO of Bouchard Transportation Company,

Inc. and his family’s fourth generation to manage the company – is justi? ably proud of his tenure which has

Invests in Safety seen Bouchard Transportation become the largest pri- vately owned ocean-going petroleum barge company in the United States, with operations on the East and

BY GREG TRAUTHWEIN

Gulf coasts of the United States and in the Caribbean.

But earlier this year during a ceremony at The State

University of New York Maritime College, a ceremony to confer upon him an honorary degree of doctor of science, it was never more clear that Bouchard is even more proud of his companies leadership in building and maintaining a safety culture that has few peers in the maritime sector. At the heart of his commitment is the Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., Tug &

Barge Simulation Center located at SUNY Maritime in

Fort Schuyler, a state-of-the-art facility which opened in October 2014 and serves as a state-of-the-art train- ing platform for both students and professional mari- ners alike.

Build it and They will Come ...

SUNY Maritime’s cutting edge Bouchard Tug &

Barge Simulator Center helped to ? ll an enormous training hole in the New York area, as the only other available simulator in the area had long since been moved to the Houston. Bouchard’s investment and a willing partner in SUNY Maritime changed all that in the autumn of 2014 with the opening of the new simu- lation center.

“The contribution is to, ? rst and foremost educate the cadets that go to school here (SUNY Maritime), to give them a good foundation when they graduate to come and be employed in an industry that is boom- ing and lacking quali? ed employees right now,” said

Bouchard when the center was opened. “We partnered (L to R): with SUNY Maritime to build a ? rst-class simulator on

At the Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc., Tug & Barge Simulation Center at SUNY Maritime are Cadet campus that would not only bene? t cadets, but would

Bryan Hinton, Morton S. Bouchard III, Brendan J. Bouchard, Cadet Kelly Paseka and Cadet Kameron Knight.

bene? t our employees. We’re going to do our training here with our captains and mates,” (which today num- ber more than 600).

Morton S. Bouchard III (right) watches as the SUNY Maritime cadets run the simulator through its paces.

The Bouchard Transportation Company, Inc. Tug and

Barge Simulation Center is the latest in Kongsberg Po- laris Bridge simulation technology, using an industry- inspired bridge console arrangement, with the latest hydrodynamic ship models and exercise areas. The

Center offers full mission bridge simulators, instruc- tion stations, and a de-brie? ng area, where instructors can discuss topics including navigation, seamanship and bridge resource management skills required in the operation of tugs and barges. Attention is given to the complexities of operating tugs and barges, ranging in size from 3,000 to 12,000 horsepower, which carry all types of commodities.

But as with any technology, the shelf-life can be short.

With this in mind Bouchard’s investment in the center was not envisioned as ‘one and done.’ “(We thought) we’ll build the simulator, we’ll do all of our training here … but more importantly as the next generation of wheelhouse technology comes out (we’ll keep up),” said Bouchard. “The world continues to evolve with new technology, and we as a company have made a 32 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MARCH 2016

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