395 December 2006
A Pushing Classic
Frank Basile at his office in Houma LA, December 2006, photo by Alan Haig-Brown
In the shipyards along the US Gulf of Mexico, Frank Basile is a legend who has probably designed more boats than any other single naval architect. At 81 years of age he shows no sign of slowing down with a range of off-shore supply vessels, model bow tugs, and push boats currently under construction at several yards for a variety of owners (www.entech-associates.com). Some of these are innovative vessels being built to original designs. At the same time Basile's 72x32-foot pushboat design shares his popularity and is currently being built at two Louisiana yards, Intracoastal Ironworks in Bourg and Hope Services in Dulac, both of which have build a number of these popular vessels in the past and have more on order.
MV Katie Gonsoulin. Photo courtesy of Intracoastal Ironworks
Hope Services has built nearly three dozen of these reliable towboats that are typically powered by a pair of equally dependable 12-cylinder Cummins KTA38 M0 mains rated at 850 hp each. (See various earlier Hotips at www.haig-brown.com) In December 2006 Hope Services had one towboat being fitted out alongside their pier for Higman Marine (www.higman.com) and four more on order for the same owner in 2007. Accommodation on the 1700 HP tugs is provided for six people in three staterooms with additional space utilized for a washer and dryer. With a molded depth of 10 feet, the hull holds tankage for 20,000 gallons of fuel, 10,000 gallons of potable water and 10,000 gallons of fresh water as well as ballast tanks.
MV Katie Gonsoulin. Photo courtesy of Intracoastal Ironworks
At Intracoastal Ironworks Joey Portier manages the yard with owner Raymond Viguerie. The yard delivered one of the Basile-designed 72-footers, the Katie Gronsulin, to Lebeouf Brothers Towing in the fall of 2006. They have another currently under construction for the same owner with an early 2007 delivery. The Lebeouf boats are powered by twin Cummins KTA38 M1 main engines rated at 1000 hp each. In line behind the current Lebeouf boat are orders for at least one more for Lebeouf and then two for Higman Marine. At the same time the busy yard is building a 136-foot utility boat and continuing with their barge repair business.
MV Katie Gonsoulin. Photo courtesy of Intracoastal Ironworks
Download specs of MV Katie Gonsoulin.
For further information:
Frank J. Basile P.E.
Entech & Assoc., Inc.
P.O. Box 1470
Houma, LA 70361
Phone: 985 868 5524
Fax: 985 857 9032
E-mail: frankb@entech-associates.com
Higman Marine Services, Inc.
1980 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1101
Houston, Texas 77056
Phone: (713) 552-1101
Fax: (713) 552-0732
E-mail:higman@higman.com
Lou Parker
Hope Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 957
Houma, LA 70361 U.S.A.
Phone: 985 563-7801
Fax: 985 563-4660
E-mail: hopeservices@direcway.com
Raymond Viguerie
Intracoastal Iron Works, Inc.
149 Bourg-Larose Hwy.
Bourg, LA 70343
Phone: 985 594 9678
Fax: 985 594 3005
E-mail: joeyou47@aol.com
Jon Gonsoulin
Executive Vice President
Lebeouf Bros. Towing, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 9036
Houma, LA 70361
USA
Phone: 985 594 6691
Fax: 985 594 0240
E-mail: jong@lebeouftowing.com
Joe Gregory
Territory Sales Manager
Cummins Mid-South
110 E.Airline Highway
Kenner, LA 70062
Phone: 504 468 3535
Moblie: 504 343 8369
Fax: 504 465 3408
Toll Free:1 800 359 4830
Email: joe.gregory@cummins.com
500-476, 475-451, 450-426, 425-401, 400-376
375-351, 375-351, 350-326, 325-301, 300-276, 275-251, 250-226, 225-201
200-176, 175-151, 150-126, 125-101, 100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-0
