Saw this on Colson’s web site last week. Good luck finding a buyer due to the age and poor condition of their equipment.
United Ocean Services for Sale?
First they scrapped their older tonnage, then they sold one of their bulkers and one of their ATBs, and now apparently they are still not having any fun, because the whole business is said to be on the block. Shouldn’t be too difficult to find a buyer who can consolidate the component parts into a larger operation. As usual, Kirby is the obvious candidate, but there are others. March 27, 2012.
International Shipholding Corp. bought them, and as of December 1, 2012 the ships are MMP/MEBA crewed for officers and engineers and SIU for all unlicensed, and are now part of Sulphur Carriers Inc. Given the condition of the two bulk carriers they have, who knows how much longer any of them will have jobs before they wind up high and dry on the beaches of Alang.
That’s ironic because when they were TECO ocean shipping they made you sign a document saying you wouldnt try to vote in a union or something along those lines.
I was on the Debbie Rankin, last I heard she was tied up on over on the east bay side of the harbor.
Might have been the Sheila McDevitt. She just got back a couple weeks ago from a West Africa trip and is now running Tampa to Houston (did a Davant to Jacksonville run as well.) Think she’s running coastwise until another foreign contract pops up. They still have the Betty Wood and Barbara Kessel down there too.
I do sorta miss working for them, mostly the getting on the ship and finding out what random country we’d be heading to next, ahh the Tina Litrico aka Red Rocket
[QUOTE=gonesailing;100762]I do sorta miss working for them, mostly the getting on the ship and finding out what random country we’d be heading to next, ahh the Tina Litrico aka Red Rocket[/QUOTE]
Tina Latrico is now on the Great Lakes, registered Canadian flag as the Manitoba.
I’ve been lurking on this forum for a few weeks now, seems good to get a feel for the current state of the industry.
Just would like to comment on TECO and the Tina Litrico.
TECO was both the worst/best company to work for in lots of ways, I think I hold the record for serving CE on the Judy Litrico, Tina’s prior incarnation, five years plus. The ship was a workhorse, lots of 24 hour days but on the whole company support was good. Changes in upper management have changed that, I hear. Actually had changed in 2006 when I left.
The other two ships were a bit better and I’m not at all surprised she was the first to go.
I think it was an ABS surveyor who commented the Judy was one of the oldest US bulkers still in class. She was even classed for un-manned ER operation, but it would take a better man than I to try it.
When we wrapped up a visit to Chittagong in mid-2012 with an unscheduled stop for repairs in Singapore, the DNV people who came aboard were shocked they were still running the McDevitt, based on their inspections of the spaces needing work. The Judy predates my time spent there, but I heard generally the same sentiments from the ABs and older officers about her that you posted.
[QUOTE=“hawserpipechief;100991”]I’ve been lurking on this forum for a few weeks now, seems good to get a feel for the current state of the industry.
Just would like to comment on TECO and the Tina Litrico.
TECO was both the worst/best company to work for in lots of ways, I think I hold the record for serving CE on the Judy Litrico, Tina’s prior incarnation, five years plus. The ship was a workhorse, lots of 24 hour days but on the whole company support was good. Changes in upper management have changed that, I hear. Actually had changed in 2006 when I left.
The other two ships were a bit better and I’m not at all surprised she was the first to go.
I think it was an ABS surveyor who commented the Judy was one of the oldest US bulkers still in class. She was even classed for un-manned ER operation, but it would take a better man than I to try it.[/QUOTE]