I know how the rumor mill goes but just curious if anyone else has heard anything. Hornbeck brought some “Potential Customers” down to one of our tugs today and another guy that works here said some guys showed up on their vessel too. Last week they wanted pictures of all of the vessels inside and out. Sound like we are up for sale to the right bidder to me. The guys on the other boat identified themselves as Kirby employees but the ones here said Davidson Oil or something. Anyone else hear anything?
Hornbeck is a publicly traded company so cannot be “for sale” per se.
Yeah, they can sell vessels but not the whole shebang without a big to-do.
I do think those tugs will be sold though, they aren’t doing a hell of a lot these days it seems. Even a year ago they seemed much busier.
They just sold two this weeks I believe I read from marcon to us buyers who are going to fix them up. I think they were cold stacked tugs?
Yea they sold 2 out of the cold stack from my understanding
All of the tugs are on contract right now to my knowledge. The ones in Texas are moving the Shale oil out of Corpus, there is one on long term charter in Puerto Rico, two in the North East, one on long term contract and the other doing short term stuff, and one in Fourchon is on contract for well testing. The two that were sold were cold stacked and haven’t been in the working fleet for a couple of years. The last quarterly conference call showed the tug fleet actually making the best charter rates since 2008 when the bottom fell out of everything up north. Sometime I think if we were owned by a real tug company we would be better off anyway. They try to run these boats like we have a ships crew when we have five men. The paperwork is out of control…
Amen on the paperwork comment. It is the worst kept secret around the tug fleet has been up for sale for several years. The just don’t want to give it away and it’s preferred to sell it lock, stock and barrel. It sounds like they may have a serious buyer or it could be just potential customers. I know the tug fleet has helped keep the lights on more than once over the years.
Maybe Kirby will be smart and put pins in those boats. Im on the sister to the gulf service, and intercon pins are the only way to go, safer, not getting your ass kicked all the time, why hornbeck didnt do it when they built those barges. Pretty soon there wont be anyone else for kirby to buy. At what point does the government step in and say enough? If you look at all the junk K-Sea had, and bought, then became kirby, which bought penn, seaboats, how much bigger can they get?
Personally I don’t know how Hornbeck can sustain these contracts. I always see them weatherbound for days at end in the Gulf.
Always weatherbound in the northeast too when they were actually leaving NY.
I don’t think Bouchard/Reinauer will quietly let them get any bigger. Only reason penn went smooth was they focus on black oil/asphalt, while allied does mostly chemical. If they were other regular product carriers like seaboats I think issues would have been raised…they merely were “diversifying” their business is how they spin monopolizing.
Well I basically got an “I can’t confirm or deny” response from a friend in Covington. That being said has anyone ever worked for Kirby? How does their pay stack up to the other players? I know Hornbeck’s tug side isn’t the highest paid but the benefits are decent. I have hemmed and hawed about switching fleets but I still need to upgrade my license and taking a pay cut to switch fleets and be a training mate just isn’t feasible right now. My wife is pregnant with the third kid so if I did that I’m going to upgrade on my own time and just re-apply. Anybody on here that has been through one of Kirby’s buyouts of Penn, Allied, Sea Boats, or KSea?
Some good reading…sorry for potentially bad link. Warming, it’s Uncensored…
There maybe a reason why there has been/is 4 guys from kirby on this boat, just a friendly hint.
I got hired with k-sea which got bought out, what questions do you have?
What are they like to work for? Did they change your pay? Do they do in house training? Travel pay? You know the usual. They all say they are a “family oriented” company but what’s the real story.
Im curious about this as well. And ill add what about health benefits and 401k matches? Do they have any sort of bonus system?
I work for the offshore division ( Kirby Offshore Marine) which is a different entity then their inland fleet. The pay did not go down, in fact it went up thanks in part to our in house union (Richmond Terrace Bargaining Unit) agreeing on a new 2 year contract with Kirby . Pay however varies throughout depending on years of service with the company. As far as travel, you are responsible for getting to the main “hub” (which is now Staten Island) and the company will pay for any additional travel if boat is in any other area then NY. Example: if you live in South Carolina and the boat runs from NY to Boston and the boat is in Boston, Company will pay for you to get to Boston as long as it is equal or cheaper then going to NY. You pay the difference if it is more. However, if boat is in NY then you are responsible for full travel to NY. Please note that the travel policy is in the process of changing where as Kirby will have more then on "hub " throughout the US which will alleviate travel expenses for some.
Training seems to be more organized and structured in their inland fleet. The offshore division does have a mate training program and they do like to promote from within however it seems many don’t go through it often . It took me a couple of years to even get in and then I was able to move up the ladder. It had been based on longevity with company. A lot seems to be timing and being in the right place at the right time.
I will agree though that Kirby does have that " family orientated " feeling to it. They have welcomed us with open arms, helping out families in times of disaster ( Sandy), providing company newsletters with info throughout fleet, providing company uniforms( optional), etc. They are changing k-sea, sea boats, allied, etc over to their way of life. Things are still changing and it has been for the good .
I hope this helps.
Health Care is United Health Care. Premiums have gone up significantly for us. It is now around $330 a month for family non smoker. No complaints about dental or vision. They do offer long term and short term disability. 401k is match up to 2% . You are vested after 5 years. 5% has been added in the past each year as well of your annual salary.
[QUOTE=“BargeMonkey;109703”]There maybe a reason why there has been/is 4 guys from kirby on this boat, just a friendly hint.[/QUOTE]
Man, I would think that is a pretty good hint!