Winter is supposedly over, but don’t tell that to Mother Nature. It was sunny and just a little chilly when I visited Great Lakes Shipyards yesterday in Cleveland but it was snowing the day before during my stop at Duramax Marine in nearby Hiram, Ohio.
At Great Lakes Shipyard, the lucrative winter layup season is about done. The yard was busy this season with several vessels including McKeil Marine’s tug Leonard M and barge Huron. McKeil’s vessels, and ATBs and other equipment from Interlake Steamship, Grand River Navigation and others, berthed at the yard this winter for planned repairs, routine maintenance, as well as inspections and miscellaneous renewals.
During my visit, Great Lakes also touted its new rewards program, which became effective on Jan. 1. The program awards points to contract customers for every dollar spent on towing and shipyard services provided by The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard. The points are bundled and can then be redeemed for discounts on scheduled shipyard work.
On Tuesday, I battled the snow and visited with Michael Schonauer, Lew Foster and Rick Spangler at Duramax. The company’s Johnson Cutless bearings are used in more vessels around the world than any other water-lubricated bearing, according to Duramax. At the International WorkBoat Show last year, the company introduced DuraBlue, a greaseless, pollution-free, self-lubricating rudder bushing that is designed to outperform traditional bushing materials.
I want to thank Mike, Lew and Rick for showing me around their efficient Hiram distribution facility which included a stop in the R&D lab. Now it’s back to the warmer weather in New Orleans … hopefully.
