Page 78: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2016)

PRODUCTS “Green” Inland Midstream Refuel Barge Delivered

John W. Stone Oil Distributor, LLC took delivery of its ? rst “green” inland midstream refueling barge from Tres

Palacios Marine in Palacios, Texas. The 160 x 54-ft. double hull barge is the latest addition to the ? eet of equipment Stone

Oil uses to support its customer base as well as its various terminal operations.

Stone Oil discussed ways to improve the existing midstream fuel barge de- sign with its marine personnel as well as its shore based maintenance staff. This was coupled with requests from custom- ers to provide a means to deliver vari- ous grades of fuel, lubricants, water and other related products and services.

What is unique and “green” about this vessel, S-49, is its ability to deliver and remove products that will be crucial for existing and new build vessels to meet the ever increasingly stringent emission standards. It will reportedly be the ? rst vessel in the U.S. capable of deliver- ing Selective Catalytic Reactor ? uid in bulk and receive ef? uent from scrubber equipped vessels. “Though not prevalent at this time, after detailed discussions with equip- ment manufacturers and customers, both domestically and internationally, we made the decision to design and build this barge,” said Tony Odak, VP at Stone

Oil. “After thorough design review by the USCG and various vetting agencies,

Stone Oil will have a barge that not only meets current emissions standards, but has capability and redundancy to meet future energy ef? ciency requirements.

This is not the only barge Tres Palacios

Marine has built for Stone Oil. The two companies formed an alliance back in 2010 building refueling barges. “In 2010, we had just completed improvements to our yard to allow for the construction of 300 ft. barges,” said Jo Anne Estopinal,

President, Tres Palacios Marine. “Stone

Oil came to us with request to build a se- ries of 140-150-ft. vessels, smaller than we had ever built. Each vessel required minor changes and tweaking in order to meet Stone Oil’s strict standards.”

Tres Palacios Marine, established in 2006, is the second barge construction yard currently owned by the Fiegel fam- ily of Galveston, Texas. The other yard,

West Gulf Marine, was established in 1998 and, dating back to 1966, the Fie- gel family shared in the ship building experience with Harry Fiegel, the father of this family, at Galveston Shipbuilding

Company.

78 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MARCH 2016

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