Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature - St. Marys
Conquest
|
 |
| Detroit River, Apr. 2005. |
Mike Nicholls |
By Rod Burdick
The barge Conquest was originally the classic steam-powered tanker,
Amoco Indiana. She was built in 1937 at Manitowoc and sailed for Amoco Oil Company until 1982.
Medusa Cement purchased the Amoco
Indiana in 1986 and had her converted to a self-unloading, cement-carrying barge at Sturgeon Bay from 1986 to 1987. Her pilothouse, aft-end cabins, and stack were removed. A bow-mounted, air-flow boom conveyor was installed along with a stern notch for a tug. Renamed
Medusa Conquest, she entered service in July of 1987 and has been in service since.
She would sailed as the Medusa
Conquest until 1998 when Medusa Cement was bought by another cement company, South Down, Inc. The vessel had her name changed to
Southdown Conquest. The company was sold again to CEMEX Cement. The
name of the barge once again was changed to Cemex Conquest.
Her current name was adopted when she was purchased
by St. Marys Cement. Her push tug was changed from the Susan W. Hannah (Bradshaw McKee) to the Prentiss Brown.
She services cement silos at Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Manitowoc and a Canadian silo in
Owen Sound from the Charlevoix cement plant.
| Overall dimensions |
|
Length |
437'6" |
|
Beam |
55' |
|
Depth |
28' |
|
Cement capacity (tons) |
8,500
|
|
Airflow
boom conveyor |
48' |
