Just heard the OSG Intrepid / OSG 254 is officially out of service and sitting in Brownsville awaiting scrapyard. The. OSG 192 has been slated to be scrapped as well. Looks like the end of the line is almost here for the old Maritrans rigs. Bummer…
They are building one new barge and probably two to be paired with the 2 newer tugs. But I think with the exception of those two and the two lightering barges, that fleet will be gone soon.
Man, how many years did they get out of those? I remember seeing them when I was on the SEA SKIMMER, before they were made into ATBs. . . .
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All of their larger boats were built in the late 60’s (Clipper was the first 5,600 hp boat) to the early 80’s. The Columbia, Freedom and Independence were the last built.
The first Intercon was the Intrepid followed by the Seafarer, Navigator and then the Liberty. All of the original Intercon boats are now gone with the scrapping of the Intrepid. The did do a refit on the “Deep Notch Tugs” with the Bludsworth system.
As of now they have the two larger rigs up on the Delaware River and the Columbia and Independence (Bludsworth) and the two “newer” boats with Intercon left in the Gulf.
It’s a shame to see a company that had a very large fleet in 1990 to be all but dead now. When I joined the in 90, they had well over 30 boats and an even larger amount of Barges. I guess the money men finally decided it was time to cash out and take what they can to recoup their investment.
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Yeah, I remember them recruiting at the Academy in the early 80s. . .at the time, I wasn’t interested. . .I mean, I was Deep Sea, right? I felt the same about Crowley at the time, to. Little did I know that my life would take me into that world, whether I wanted to go or not. To be honest I am happy I made the turn. But yeah, those boats were all over the east and Gulf Coasts.
So OSG is down to 4 ATBs and they are building 2 new ATBs?
How many US flag tankers does OSG have?
How many foreign flag tankers?
In 2016 OSG spun off its international business group into a separate company, International Seaways. International Seaways owns/operates about 50 ships. There are people who are currently sit on both Board of Directors but the senior management groups of each company are different.
They’re building 1 and probably 2 new barges for the 2 newer tugs (not Delaware). Not building any new tugs as of yet.
12 Jones Act tankers and 2 MSP. Building 2 new non-Jones Act, presumably to replace the MSP ships.
Zero.
A Few years Back. That was the Scuttlebutt here in Tampa Shipyard, That when OSG Tugs did there 5 Year SY It was going to be there Last one.
Rumor has it that the “new” CEO doesn’t want to spend a dime that he doesn’t need to, which means major SY Periods. Also, I believe that all of these barges will be required to retrofit Ballast Water Treatment Systems at their next major yard period. That’s a lot of money to spend on old barges and IMHO is the reason that they are being scrapped.
Within the next year, I would be willing to bet that all of the old Maritrans barges will be gone and they will be down to the two rigs doing the lightering up on the Delaware and then “IF” they build the two new barges for the two newer tugs in the Gulf they will have two working the GOM and East Coast. I believe they have signed some sort of contract for the new barge builds but I will not believe it until they launch them.
Also, I would not be at all surprised to hear that they are trying to sell off the above mentioned rigs. Before the B-255 incident, I would have put Bouchard in the running as they have always wanted the Delaware Lightering contracts. The main reason the Maritrans then OSG has them IIRC, is that they hold the permits needed and either they are very hard to acquirer or are no longer being issued. With Bouchard out that leaves Kirby and Vane but they have had their problems also.
So, who would be willing and able to buy those four rigs, if I knew that I would still be playing around on the Stock Market! Any ideas on who might be interesting in buying that fleet?
I don’t think they’re going to give up the lightering fleet anytime soon. Those two barges make them a big ole pile of money every year.
Was just told the OSG 192 is officially done and up on the hill in Brownsville. the OSG Couragous is bound for Tampa light boat to be laid up till the “new barge” is built. If you ask me as an ex OSG tankerman…OSG wants nothing to do with tugs anymore. It’s a damn shame cause it was a fantastic place to work…sad day.
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Totally agree with you, Maritrans / OSG used to be a really good place to work.
In just a few years, I count 5 rigs gone. Freedom (sold), Seafarer (sold), Liberty (sold), Enterprise (permanently laid up), Intrepid (scrapped), Navigator (scrapped). This amounts to right around 50% of their ATB Fleet and over 100 berths gone forever.
The SIU guys might be able to find work with the Union but the Officers are basically screwed as AMO does not have many jobs for Limited License Holders. I know Crowley is AMO for Officers but officially they are SIU top to bottom but us a pass thru with AMO. Plus they require Unlimited Licenses which rules out most of the OSG guys.