Horizon Delivers "M/V Victoria Pasentine" to Florida Marine Transporters

In April 2017 Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. of Bayou La Batre Alabama delivered the M/V Victoria Pasentine, a 120’ towboat with a retractable pilot house, to its home port of New Orleans, LA.  This is the twentieth vessel delivered to Florida Marine Transporters by Horizon and ninth year doing business together.

Travis Short, President of Horizon Shipbuilding, had this to say regarding Horizon’s relationship with FMT, “It has truly been an honor to be involved in the construction of these great boats and to be able to develop relationships with such fine people!  Anyone who has done business with Dennis Pasentine knows that it’s about relationships as much as it is about business. Our successes were due in large part to FMT New Construction Manager Jeff Brumfield, FMT Customer Representative Rusty Zeller, John Gilbert & Assoc., Kern Martin, Stone Constructors and Insulation, Beir Radio, along with many others. I would like to thank our great Horizon craftsmen, who worked to meet all specifications and deadlines on these projects.” Jeff Brumfield of FMT said, “Horizon Shipbuilding has proven itself to be an excellent partner in assisting in the design and overall construction of the most powerful new vessels in our fleet.”

The M/V Victoria Pasentine has an ABS Load Line Certificate to operate in the waters between Chicago to Burns Harbor for fair weather voyages. It is 120’-0” LOA x 35’0” x 11’-6” and weighs in at 387 gross tons. The vessel is of all steel construction and powered by two CAT 3512 engines rated at 2011 HP, each at 1600 RPM with Twin Disc gears. With the house fully retracted, the max air draft is 17’-8”. The boat is outfitted with two 175kw Tier 3 John Deer 6090 Gen sets 460v. It is also outfitted for service in certain areas restricted to overhead clearances and draft limitation. Sleeping accommodations and facilities are provided for eight (8) persons and sound dampening systems have been implemented throughout the main deck house.

The Project Manager for the build of the M/V Victoria Pasentine, Mr. Terry Freeman, managed the construction of the vessel. He and his team completed the build on schedule for Horizon’s longtime customer, Florida Marine Transporters. Mr. Freeman had this to say about the building of the M/V Victoria Pasentine, “Once again our team of skilled craftsman showed unparalleled professionalism and dedication with regard to the building and delivery of this vessel. On behalf of the Horizon team I would like to thank our vendors such as: Gulf Coast Air & Hydraulics who supplied the lift system and associated components for the pilot house, EMI, which has handled the steering and machinery alarm systems for every boat and Kern Martin Services which has done the interior package for all of our FMT builds. All have made up an exceptional team and been an integral part of successful, on time delivery of this vessel. Construction was completed and delivered on April 11, 2017.”

One reason the Horizon team is able to operate at such a high level is its GORDHEAD management software. This software has reduced production man-hours and shortened delivery schedules, enabling Horizon to become more competitive, a competitiveness that has resulted in an increasing backlog during a very challenging shipbuilding market. Both of its new customers, McAllister Towing and Transportation Company, Inc. and Hornblower New York Ferry Fleet, LLC, mentioned GORDHEAD as a contributing factor in their selection process.