Blanco dedicates new dry dock in New Orleans

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco recently dedicated a new dry dock at Bollinger Gulf Repair in New Orleans. The dry dock will service new shipbuilding and repair projects along the Industrial Canal in New Orleans East and completes the first phase of a two-phase cooperative agreement between the state and Bollinger Shipyards Inc. of Lockport.

In the first phase, the state invested $10 million to construct the dry dock. Bollinger has committed to adding 500 new shipbuilding and repair jobs at their yards throughout Louisiana the year and is currently hiring at two New Orleans-area facilities.

Bollinger will use the dry dock for vessel repair, maintenance and conversion. The dock has a capacity of 10,600 tons and measures more than 35 ft. long and 136 ft. wide. The wing wall height of the dry dock above the pontoon deck is 32 ft., 1 in. The distance between wing walls is 116 ft., 2 in.

Bollinger has 14 shipyards, all located between New Orleans and Houston with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region with a total of 45 dry docks in Louisiana and Texas.

Port of Greater Baton Rouge named winner of annual award

The Planning Commission of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge has named the Port of Greater Baton Rouge as the 2004 recipient of the Annual Lead Agency Horizon Plan Award. Troy Bunch, city-parish planning director, presented the award to the port at the Horizon Plan Lead Agency meeting in December.

The Horizon Plan is a 20-year land use and development plan for the city and parish. Local and state government and nonprofit organizations function as "Lead Agencies" to implement the Horizon Plan. The annual award recognizes agencies for exceeding the standards to accomplish assigned strategies, or "Action Items," necessary to implement the Horizon Plan.

The port is the fourth recipient of the Annual Lead Agency Horizon Plan Award, created in 2001.

Twenty-nine Lead Agencies are assigned action items according to the plan's seven elements, which include land use, transportation and housing. The port is responsible for two of the 275 action items distributed among the Lead Agencies.

"During the past five years, the port has undergone a substantial transformation and has developed and built facilities to improve and expand freight movements and provide added flexibility and increased transportation options for local shippers," Bunch said.