Carlisle and Bray Enterprises Constructs New Harbor Boat

Carlisle & Bray’s own Damen Madaris and Robert “Flash” Westmoreland received their Steersman of Towing Vessels on Western Rivers certificate from Rear Admiral Robin Osborne, USN, during the Steersman Course commencement ceremony on Jan. 16, 2015, at Inland Waterways Academy in Huntington.

Each student completed the 10-day course, which prepares experienced deckhands in obtaining the license from the U.S. Coast Guard.

“We are very proud of Damen and Robert for their accomplishments at Inland Waterways Academy,” said Rob Carlisle, President of Carlisle & Bray Enterprises. “We look forward to having them as certified steersmen on our C&B vessels.”

Chad Bray, COO of Carlisle & Bray Enterprises, said training is key a principle at C&B. “We realize that our employees are our most important asset and we strive to ensure that they receive the best training to grow their career opportunities and better serve our customers,” Bray said.

Employment of water transportation occupations is projected to grow 13 percent from now until 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median annual wage for water transportation occupations is approximately $50,000 among the highest paying jobs in the United States without a college degree.

Congratulations to Damen and Flash for their hard work and achievement.

COVINGTON, Ky. — On Friday, Sept. 26, the owners and employees of Carlisle & Bray Enterprises christened two new towboats — the Enterprise and the Discovery – as the latest additions in the company’s growing fleet of towboats.

Carlisle and Bray CEO Bill Bray also announced that the company had signed a contract to build “one more Discovery size boat, with options for five more.”

Chaplain Kempton “Chaps” Baldridge officiated the ceremony on the Covington riverfront, which was attended by C&B crews and employees, members of the Carlisle and Bray families, and clients of the company.

Carlisle & Bray Enterprises contracted with Marine Builders, Inc. to construct the two new towboats. The Enterprise is a 2,600-horsepower, 90-foot-by-34-foot vessel that will be used for current customers and to assist in any customer need. The Discovery is a 1,320-horsepower, 60-foot-by-25-foot vessel, which will service the company’s ever-growing fleeting service in the Port of Cincinnati.

“The Discovery is the 82^nd hull design vessel built by Marine Builders, and at this moment, it’s the best harbor boat we have ever made,” said Dave Evanczyk, owner of Marine Builders, Inc., after the ceremony.

The Discovery and The Enterprise join the C&B fleet as towboat numbers 16 and 17. The company also operates various barges, multiple deck flats for clamshell loading and unloading, barge mounted cranes and other construction equipment, and several port and dock facilities. The company employs 175 people on its team.

“The main reason for the building these two new towboats is to improve employee safety and replace some of our old aging fleet,” said Ed Lapikas, General Manager for C&B Marine. “Ensuring employee safety — that every person goes home the way they came to work — is our number one goal,” added COO Chad Bray.

Carlisle & Bray Enterprises was created in March 2011 when Bray Marine, operated by the Bray family, merged with Greater Cincinnati Marine, operated by the Carlisle family.

Fran Carlisle, matriarch of the Carlisle family (wife of board member Wayne Carlisle and mother of President Rob Carlisle and Chairman Bryan Carlisle) and Christine Bray, matriarch of the Bray family (wife of CEO Bill Bray and mother of CFO Scott Bray and COO Chad Bray) christened both boats by breaking the ceremonial bottles of champagne over the bows of the ships.

Christine Bray and Fran Carlisle break bottles of champagne on the Enterprise bow.

Bill Bray presenting at the christening ceremony, surrounded by his family, the Carlisle family, and members of the C&B team.

The Discovery (left) the Enterprise (right).

C&B Marine is proud to work in conjunction with Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks to provide a boat and barges to ensure that the Greater Cincinnati Community is able to enjoy fireworks displays on the Ohio River.

C&B Marine has worked with the Rozzi group over the past several years in helping to provide a safe and enjoyable Labor Day fireworks tradition as well as working to serve the Cincinnati Reds firework displays.

The behind the scenes work and dedication from the Rozzi’s and the C&B team are definitly another reason why these fireworks extravaganzas seems so safe and seamless. Weeks of planning and coordination are needed to provide this professional service. The public only sees the final result as a inspiring pyrotechnics display.

C&B Marine is also honered to be named the “Offical Barge Line of the Cincinnati Reds”! Our same seamless partnership provides the Cincinnati Reds organization and fans with the post game displays that the fans have come to expect from Friday night home games.

C&B Marine prides itself on river safety and working with all parties involved to make sure that our proud river heritage and commitment to our river partners continues provide a safe and entertaining experience for the whole Cincinnati/NKY river community!

C&B Marine sponsored a lunch with U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on August 19 after he took a towboat tour and ride on the Ohio River with members of C&B Marine management team and representatives from other inland marine businesses.

Afterward, Rep. Massie attended the C&B Marine-sponsored lunch with president Rob Carlisle, COO Chad Bray, and other members of Central Ohio River Business Association (CORBA) at the Metropolitan Club in Covington.

With Congress currently in recess, Rep. Massie is using his time out of session to visit communities and industries throughout Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District. “This is the time that we take to get acquainted with our constituents and the needs of the businesses in our communities,” Massie said of the visit.

American Waterways Operators (AWO), Larry Daily of McNational Inc., and Marty Hettel of AEP River Operations hosted the tour and ride, which also included regional field representatives from Rep. Massie’s office and other regional Congressional offices.

The primary reason for this visit was to allow C&B Marine and other CORBA members discuss with Rep. Massie the issues and needs of the inland waterways industry, particularly the towboat and barge industry.

One topic of discussion was the need for a modern, well-maintained lock-and-dam infrastructure essential for safe and efficient waterborne commerce that will support U.S. competitiveness in the world market. Three locks and dams are located in the Fourth Congressional District — Greenup, Meldahl and Markland – and Rep. Massie said that he has visited all three during his time in Congress.

Another topic discussed CORBA members discussed was the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA), the first waterways-related bill to pass through Congress in six years, which was signed into law by President Barrack Obama on June 10, 2014.

One feature in the new law puts a cap on expenses for long — and often costly — studies focused on infrastructure projects, with the goal of speeding up the research and funding allocation processes for these projects.

Rep. Massie said he made several strong arguments about the WRDA when he was pitching the bill to other members of Congress. “There are a lot of good reforms in the bill, which helps to not waste money on the studies instead of actually building the projects,” he said.

“Secondly, if Congressional members don’t reauthorize the WRDA, they are abdicating their authority and responsibility to designate this money — they are just giving it to the president. Finally it’s constitutional. There is a federal nexus for spending in our inland waterways that was established in 1824.”

Rep. Massie believes that the bill got strong support in the House because he and Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) were able focus both Republicans and Democrats on issues about which they agreed instead of flooding it with regulations that the two parties couldn’t agree upon.

Early last month the MV Enterprise was hired to work with the MV American Queen on her up river voyage on the Ohio from Maysville, KY.

The American Queen is said to be the largest river steamboat ever built. The ship was built in 1996 and is a six-deck recreation of a classic Mississippi river boat built for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company.

Although the American Queen’s stern paddlewheel is indeed powered by a genuine steam plant, her secondary propulsion comes from a set of diesel-electric propellers known as Z-drives on either side of the stern wheel. She has 222 state rooms for a capacity of 436 guests and a crew of 160. She is 418 feet (127m) long and 89 feet (27m) wide and is currently owned by the American Queen Steamboat Company.

The crew of the Enterprise was excited to work with the vessel and her crew on this upriver voyage into Pittsburgh.

On April 20, 2014 C&B Marine took delivery of our newest addition to the C&B fleet of vessels, the MV Enterprise. She was built by Marine Builders of Uttica, IN. Our new 2,600 horsepower towing vessel is 90’ x 34’ x 10’.   Upon completion the boat went straight to work in the Cincinnati harbor area. As with all new vessels our crews are excited about working her into our fleeting & shifting program here at C&B. Since she is now the largest horsepower vessel in our fleet, we know this addition will add to C&B’s already effective fleeting, shifting and towing operations for our customer service base in and around the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky maritime region.

The MV Enterprise propulsion is provided by two (2) Cummins QSK38 Tier II engines. These engines will drive two (2) Reintjes WAF 665 reverse reduction gears and two (2) 4-blade specifically designed propellers for the vessel driveline. The steering is controlled by means of an electronic over hydraulic full follow up steering control system.

President Rob Carlisle says “With the addition of these new vessels, we want our current and future customers to know that we are committed to be a full service provider. From our fleeting, cleaning and washing facilities at MP 480 and MP 459 Ohio River to dedicated charter towing, C&B has , Whatever it takes! Try us and see how a new level has been set for service”.

C&B is also in process of another new addition to our fleet later this month. The MV Discovery!

The Cincinnati Enquirer published an opinion column and a news story this week about issues that are near and dear to our heart: the Ohio River and people who work on the river.

The first was an opinion column Monday on the newspaper’s editorial page by Nick Akins, president and CEO of American Electric Power, which discussed the importance the federal water resources bill now before Congress.

This important legislation will address issues that are vital to the nation’s inland waterways, such as dam safety, levees, ecosystem restoration, harbor maintenance and dredging, as well as repairing and maintaining our locks and dams.

Read the column in its entirety.

In Tuesday’s Enquirer, reporter Cindy Schroeder wrote a heart-warming story about the passing Virginia “Harbor Mother” Bennett, a longtime fixture on the Ohio River who was well known throughout the inland marine industry, who died at the age of 89.

Virginia Bennett at George Rogers Clark Park in Covington in 1995, standing next to the statue of Captain Mary B. Greene.

One of the first women to work on the Ohio River, a regular on the local marine radio where she known where she was known as “Harbor Mother,” and an Ohio River folklore historian, Bennett was so admired by her river family that, in April 2000, the U.S. Coast Guard honored her with the Virginia Bennett navigation light – a rare recognition for a living person.

Friends and her river family celebrated Bennett’s life aboard the Belle of Cincinnati yesterday, where her ashes were sprinkled on a funeral wreath that was set afloat at mile 471.5,  — just below the navigation light that bears her name — for her final trip down the Ohio River.

Read the story in its entirety.

At Carlise & Bray Enterprises, when it comes to customer service, we have a motto: “Whatever it takes.” It’s a principle that is deeply engrained in our culture by the entrepreneurial families – the Carlisles and the Brays – who started our three companies and still operate them.

When you make a phone call to one of our companies – whether it’s C&B Marine, CB Energy, or Score Global – you get a person, not a computerized voicemail system, on the other side of the conversation.  That person will either help you directly or direct you to another person within our organization who can.

When it comes to working on the inland waterway system — particularly in the Port of Cincinnati — no one knows the Ohio River like we do.  At C&B, our dispatchers work proactively to save our customers money by constantly communicating with all river-based entities.

At C&B Enterprises, we recognize that we must provide stellar service!  That’s why safety and communications are priorities.  We are committed to owning our customers’ concerns and their problems and working creatively to help solve them.

From our relationships with the local docks to all other towing companies, our customer service policy is the same: get them the needed information.  At C&B, this is accomplished with constant, accurate, and updated communications.

“As soon as we know that a barge is heading into our care and custody, we start the communications chain needed to ensure that each barge is moved as efficiently as possible,” said Vicky Schottelkotte, Dispatch & Logistics Manager at C&B. “This not only saves our customers barge days and money, but also works to establish a greater bond with our customer’s clients to ensure that their service levels are a priority when in the Cincinnati area.”

“This constant communications chain ensures that all parties involved with a barge have the proper information they need to load or unload this barge as timely as possible,” Schottelkotte said.

“Our whole goal is to minimize our customer’s barge days, safely and efficiently,” she said. “We believe that this is accomplished with great communications. As they say, ‘Time is money,’ and our focus is on our clients and making sure they don’t lose valuable barge days or money.”

At Carlisle & Bray Enterprises, our customer service is not just a cheap slogan, it is what we sets us apart from our competition. Whatever it takes!