New cranes aid growth at Halter

Pascagoula-based VT Halter Marine is entering an expansion mode that should create about 200 jobs over the next five years. Two new $2 million cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 310 tonnes, are part of the first steps in upgrading the facility, which employs about 1,200 workers. According to Chief Operation Officer Bill Skinner, the new cranes will be used to complete a $254 million contract to build three 330,000-barrel tank barges for Jacksonville-based Vessel Management Services Inc., a subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corp. Work on the barges will begin in 2009 for completion by the end of 2013.

In addition to the larger barges, the shipyard is gearing up next week to deliver the fifth of 10 smaller 185,000-barrel articulated tug barges to Vessel Management Services in a 2005 contract worth $515 million.