Gunderson Marine announced today that it would build two articulated oceangoing barges for Harley Marine Services.

The contract is for two 82,000-bbl. 430' barges. Portland, Ore.-based Gunderson most recently delivered a barge to Harley Marine in 2009. Construction on the barges will begin by mid-2016, with delivery scheduled for the second half of 2017. 

Over the past nine months, Gunderson has delivered two 578' articulated oceangoing barges for chemical and oil service. With the current orders, Gunderson is responding to increased demand for barges that transport refined products across U.S. waterways from coastal refineries.

“It is always rewarding to serve a repeat customer,” William A. Furman, chairman and CEO of Gunderson’s parent company, The Greenbrier Companies, said in a statement. “The marine order activity Greenbrier reports today demonstrates our commitment to diversify our revenue base as our core North American railcar markets transition over the course of this year and into 2017.”

Gunderson, a wholly owned subsidiary of Greenbrier, currently has more than 300 workers dedicated to marine. Located on 75 acres along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, Gunderson is accessible year-round by oceangoing vessels and two transcontinental railroads.

Established in 1919 as a heavy steel fabricator, Gunderson has been a ship and barge builder since 1942. Gunderson has built almost 4,800 vessels, with a focus on large oceangoing barges. Gunderson has built about 300 oceangoing barges.

Seattle-based Harley Marine has operations along the West Coast (including Alaska and Hawaii), New York Harbor and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Harley’s services include the transportation and storage of petroleum products, ship assist and escort, the transportation of general cargo and rescue towing. 

 

David Krapf has been editor of WorkBoat, the nation’s leading trade magazine for the inland and coastal waterways industry, since 1999. He is responsible for overseeing the editorial direction of the publication. Krapf has been in the publishing industry since 1987, beginning as a reporter and editor with daily and weekly newspapers in the Houston area. He also was the editor of a transportation industry daily in New Orleans before joining WorkBoat as a contributing editor in 1992. He has been covering the transportation industry since 1989, and has a degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, and also studied journalism at the University of Houston.