BG Fleeting Prepares for Offshore/Inland Market Downturn

BG Fleeting owner, Chris Gonsoulin, is preparing his 401 ACRE waterfront site in south Louisiana for the offshore and inland onslaught of work stoppage.  Offshore oil exploration and production has been severely curtailed and the future doesn’t bode very well for the inland side either. Many drill rigs have been stacked and with that comes the domino effect of vessels and services that supply those facilities being laid off as well and the inland transportation of oil related products can’t be far behind.

BG has a two mile waterfront facility, probably the longest privately owned waterfront facility along the Gulf Coast, and is strategically located at mile 50 on the ICWW(Intracoastal Waterway West).  BG is actually on the Old Route of the Intracoastal Waterway, which years ago included two severe turns at that particular area. It was rerouted in the early 1940’s to make the new Intracoastal Waterway with a sweeping northerly turn to facilitate smoother vessel transitioning through that area.

“We are putting in over one mile of roadways and adding high voltage service along the waterways for additional shore power hookups.” Gonsoulin said.  “In addition to this, we’ve installed electronic gate access and each client will be given his or her own access code to enter the facility by roadway.  All clients will have access to a bulk headed dock to use for water travel in order to access their vessels.” The company is also offering to place pipe piles for tie offs to fit each customer’s individual requirements. BG has several acres available for land based storage for those clients needing to store equipment or platforms onshore. In the past, BG has had as many as 83 offshore supply vessels at its facility in Bourg, La. during the last major offshore downturn.

“While no one enjoys calling me to lay up vessels, they know that our facility is a safe harbor for their vessels to be berthed until the market picks up and their vessels return to work.  We stand ready to facilitate our individual client’s needs to the best of our ability.”