Florida Marine Transporters

When Dennis Pasentine founded Florida Marine Transporters, he did so with a commitment to four major core values: safety, environment, quality and training. From those four principles, Florida Marine Transporters has grown into one of the largest inland marine companies in the country.

The company works as far north as Minneapolis and south to Corpus Christi, Texas. Its customers have taken it east to Pittsburgh and west to Catoosa, Okla. The company services 17 inland rivers throughout the Southeast and Midwest, transporting cargo such as petrochemicals, chemicals, LPG, crude oil, agricultural liquids and dry cargo, including coal, aggregate, ore and coke. It services its customers with a diverse barge fleet able to meet a variety of needs.

“The diversity and size of our tank barge fleet provides our customers with multiple options to achieve the most efficient and economical liquid barging program,” the company says. “The construction and design of our barges, whether transiting as a unit or as a one-barge tow, matched with our modern towboats, maximizes operational and fuel efficiency.”

Florida Marine’s towboat fleet is also one of the most modern on U.S. inland waterways. Its towboats are equipped with the latest engine technology that provides improved fuel and lube consumption and reduces emissions. The Florida Marine towboat design and construction in combination with fuel-efficient main engines contributes to optimal barge transportation economics.

Delivering on Service

With each customer and each service line, the company’s commitment to its four values has remained intact. Beginning with safety, the company strives for zero incidents, zero injuries and zero critical barge/towboat equipment failures. Its safety initiatives include a partnership with the Delgado Community College Maritime, Fire, Radar & Industrial Training Facility to provide regulatory training and safety incentives to employees.

As for the environment, Florida Marine Transporters aims for zero spills, zero non-compliance items and a reduced carbon footprint. The company’s environmental program consists of towboat and barge features designed to protect the environment, such as ABS Class Standards. It also includes compliance with VGO, USCG and RCP.

“Florida Marine attends industry seminars and training, as well as reviews updates on environmentally related regulations and best practices,” the company says. “The compliance, operations and maintenance departments work together to achieve compliance with regulations and best practices.”

Another part of the company’s commitment to protecting the environment involves another core value: training. Florida Marine Transporters requires all deckhands to complete training on OPA 90 and zero-spill tolerance. It requires all tankerman to complete a minimum of six months on-the-job training following tankerman school and to complete a full competency evaluation prior to “being cut loose,” the company says.

All of these policies help with the company’s fourth goal of maintaining quality, which not only includes safety, environment and training but also efficiency, technical leadership and respect, the company says.

“Florida Marine is committed to our vision of a relentless pursuit of excellence,” the company says. “Within this pursuit, we strive toward accomplishing our mission to transport our customers’ resources in the safest, most environmentally sound and efficient manner possible.”