Canal Barge Essay

528 Words2 Pages

The maritime industry is known to be extremely competitive with high start-up costs and barriers to entry. In such an environment, a shipping company must have a unique competitive advantage to survive. Canal Barge Company has proven for five generations that it has the abilities needed to not just survive, but prosper, in its industry. Although it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly what factors led to this company’s wide spread success, its focus on employee cultivation, ethical principles, and safe practices have certainly made Canal Barge a respected name. Growing from a single barge with a commitment to customer service, Canal Barge Company positioned itself for two key acquisitions of Illinois Marine Towing and ConocoPhillips to become the most …show more content…

Work together in the spirit of teamwork and mutual respect v. Lead by example vi. Share in our success (“Our People”, 2011) c. Heavily focused on mariner training initiatives. The President and CEO provides funding for all new employees to give them the opportunity for licensing (Hepburn, 2015). This provides a diversified and educated work force. 2. Acquisition of Illinois Marine Towing and ConocoPhillips a. Occurred Sept 2008, for 100% of company’s stock, and made Canal Barge the biggest independent towing and fleeting service working on the Illinois river (“Canal Barge Company”, n.d.) i. Acquired the leading independent towing and fleeting services provider in the Chicago market, which gave Canal Barge the strategic ability to provide affreightment, barge cleaning, terminal services, and vessel repair (Zornes, 2008) b. Purchased and continue to operate the fleet of ConocoPhillips boats, operating out of Sulphur, LA in November of 2007. i. Fleet includes: 7 inland towboats and 14 double-skinned inland tank barges (Canal barge buys ConocoPhillips' fleet, 2009) 3. Future direction of services after acquisitions a. Acquisitions made, not for growth’s sake, but to open up strategic positions along important

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