Marine division expanding, two ocean barges to be built
Moran Iron Works (MIW) was recently awarded a contract to build two ocean going deck barges for Durocher Marine, a division of Kokosing Construction Co., based in Cheboygan.
The two deck barges will be 180’ X 54’ X 12’ with 2,500 lb/ft2 deck strength and 2,400 short ton cargo capacity. They will be built in accordance with International Maritime Organization (IMO), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and United States Coast Guard (USCG) regulations and classifications.
“That’s going to be a real neat project,” said MIW owner/founder Tom Moran. “We want about 30 percent of our business to be in marine. Right now, we are doing steel mills, power plants.”
The barges will follow ABS rules for building and classing steel barges for offshore service. They will be classed as ABS A1 Ocean Service Deck Barges and will have an International Load Line Certificate.
MIW is working with Netsco, a marine engineering, naval architecture and design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, on the design and engineering of the barges.
The keels will be laid mid-summer at MIW’s fabrication facility in Onaway.
The first barge will be named Kokosing III and has a scheduled completion of September 2014; the second barge will be named Kokosing IV and has a scheduled completion of October 2014.
Both barges will be launched at MIW’s deep water Port Calcite Collaborative in Rogers City.