Lockport, LA., January 5, 2007 - Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., and Bollinger Gretna L.L.C., Harvey, La., have delivered the articulated tug/barge (ATB) unit, tug LINDA LEE BOUCHARD and barge B. No. 205 to Bouchard Coastwise Management Corp., Melville, N.Y., one of the largest operators of double hull ATB units in the United States.

"The delivery of these vessels from our three new construction locations during a difficult time for the South Louisiana region, says a lot about the dedication from the Bollinger workforce and our customer Bouchard, who continues to show support to Bollinger with additional building programs,” said Donald "Boysie” Bollinger, chairman and CEO of Bollinger."

The double hull, ocean going asphalt, residual fuel oil Barge B. No. 205, built at Bollinger Gretna meets the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA’90) and is rated for 110,000 BBLs of product in sixteen cargo tanks. B. No. 205 measures 430-feet long, with a 79-foot beam and a depth of 34 feet, and is constructed with a flat deck, as are all, of Bouchard double hull vessels. The barge is certified ABS +1 Oil Tank Barge, USCG Manned Ocean Service, US flagged for grade A and lower petroleum products. The vessel is outfitted with three (3) John Deere cargo pump engines, three (3) SC Engineering cargo pumps and three (3) John Deere generator units. Product temperature is maintained with two (2) twelve million BTU thermal fluid heaters, and tank gauging is monitored with the Bergan Radar system, and vessel is equipped with vapor recovery. The engineering, fabrication and construction of the barge were a joint effort between three Bollinger locations, with Bollinger Lockport engineering providing design support, Bollinger Marine Fabricators providing panel construction, and Bollinger Gretna building the unit. The B. No. 205 is the thirteenth OPA’90 tank barge to come out of the Bollinger Gretna location. This addition to the Bouchard fleet will give Bouchard fourteen OPA’90 barges in their fleet.

The LINDA LEE BOUCHARD named in honor of the wife of president and chief executive officer of Bouchard Affiliates, Morton S. Bouchard lII, is a 6,140 HP, 130-ft x 38-ft x 22-ft oceangoing tug. The vessel is outfitted with the Intercon Coupler System and tow winch. The vessel is certified by American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for Oceans trade, ABS Class +A1+AMS Full Oceans and SOLAS. The main engines are two (2) EMD 16/645/F7BA turbo charged units rated for 3070 horse power each. The four (4) generators, three (3) primary and one (1) emergency, are powered by John Deere Tier II compliant engines rated at 99kW and 65kW, respectively.

Morton S. Bouchard III, president and chief executive officer, (fourth generation of the Bouchard family) of Bouchard Affiliates, (Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc., Bouchard Coastwise Management, and newly formed, Bouchard Ocean Services) said, "We are very pleased with the strong partnership that we have developed, with Bollinger Shipyards. Bouchard is extremely grateful to the Bollinger management and employees for their dedication in constructing and delivering the quality of equipment, that for generations Bouchard and our customer’s demand, in the most difficult of times that the United States ship building industry has ever faced. I would personally like to thank Boysie Bollinger and the Bollinger family for their leadership through these most difficult times. Bouchard looks forward to entering our third phase of construction as we prepare for the delivery of the following Bollinger retrofit and new built barges; B. No. 295 (160,000 bbls), B. No. 231 (35,000 bbls) and B. No. 232 (35,000 bbls).” Mr. Bouchard went on to state, "Our continued investments into quality, flat deck double hull barges supports our commitment to the United States consumer to supply an environmentally safe transportation system.”

The next Bouchard hull coming out of Bollinger Gretna will be an 80,000 BBL OPA’90 tank barge, B. No. 282, sister to the B. No. 280 that Bollinger delivered in May, 2006.

Founded in 1918, Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc., (www.bouchardtransport.com) Bouchard Coastwise Management, and Bouchard Ocean Services, combined is a total ocean going petroleum barge company with operations on the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico & the West Coast. The Bouchard Fleet ranges from 25,000bbls to 250,000 bbls. Bouchard was the first barging company to invest in newly built double hulls, back in 1993, and continues to invest in new vessels. "Bouchard is the leader in double Hulls with More to come.”

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. is a leading designer and builder of ocean-going double hull barges, offshore oil field support vessels, tug boats, rigs, liftboats, inland waterways push boats and barges, fast military patrol boats and other steel and aluminum products from its three new construction shipyards. Bollinger has 13 shipyards and all are strategically located between New Orleans and Houston with direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River and the Intracoastal Waterway. Bollinger is the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region with a total of 40 dry-docks in Louisiana and Texas.