P.O. Box 1170 9 NW Front Street, Suite 201 Marcon International, Inc. Coupeville, WA 98239 U.S.A. Telephone (360) 678 8880 Vessels and Barges for Sale or Charter Worldwide Fax (360) 678-8890 E Mail:
[email protected] http://www.marcon.com Barges An Overview of the Workhorses of the Marine Industry By: Bob Beegle Barges are the workhorses of the towing industry. They perform myriads of chores from cargo transport, pipelay, heavy- lift, water-desalinization, and power generation to offshore floating production and storage. Barges haul millions of tons of cargoes or otherwise work offshore and through the river systems and harbors of every continent in the world. Although there are no accurate records, I would not be surprised if there are at least 150,000 barges from the coasts of Albania to Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. Non-propelled barges range from under 10’ to almost 1,000’ in length. While usually built out of steel, Marcon has over the years listed and sold barges constructed of concrete, aluminum and, even, wood. At the top of the range of cargo barges are the 30,000dwt+ ocean tank barges, 40,000dwt+ Great Lakes bulk barges and the 25,000dwt+ submersible and launch barges for ocean transport of equipment, such as drill rigs, drydocks, floating storage & production units, and of high value project cargoes requiring dry-tows for secure and/or faster deliveries. The world’s largest launch and float-over/cargo barge designed for worldwide operation is Heerema’s 852’ x 207’ x 49’ with a maximum 130,514mt and launch capacity of 40,000mt “H-851”.