Tuesday, December 14, 2004

A Bowling Green native is returning his familys name to the Ohio River with the creation of the Hines Furlong Line.

Kent Furlong is the grandson of Bowling Greens James G. Hines, whose name is legendary in the river transportation industry, and the son of Donna Furlong and Steve Furlong. He graduated from Warren Central High School and will soon graduate from Bellarmine University.

With the help of Hines, 21-year-old Furlong incorporated the Hines Furlong Line in June and is having two double-skinned tank barges being built by Jeffboat in Louisville. The barges are 297 feet long and 54 feet wide and are scheduled to be delivered early in 2005. Initially, HFL will use chartered boats to run the barges as a unit.

Hines said while HFL does not yet have a contract, he is confident his contacts in the industry will prove fruitful.

Weve had a real good reception from people like Shell, Hines said. Now whether we get business is something else, but Im sure we will.

Part of Hines confidence stems from the fact that the barges, which cost $2 million each, will be state-of-the-art. The nations fleet of barges is aging, and Hines said shippers are looking for better equipment.

According to Furlong, HFLs mission is to focus on customers and employees through dedication to detail and attention to safety while operating a small, premium tank barge fleet.

We empathize with existing companies looking to expand in a time or rising steel prices, Furlong said in a press release. Despite this obstacle, HFL will move forward with its barge construction program. Overall Im excited about the market and industry conditions that favor the reintroduction of a rich tradition in family-owned transportation operations.

Hines was the fourth generation of his family in the river transportation business. When, as president of Hines Inc., he sold the company to American Commercial Barge Line in 1992, it had five towboats, 30 oversized tank barges and operated 30 customer-owned barges.

The family started the Bowling Green & Evansville Packet Company around the turn of the century, according to The Waterways Journal Weekly, a trade publication. It operated steamboats on the Green, Barren and Ohio rivers. Over the years, the Hineses carved out a niche in the towing and terminaling of petroleum, asphalt and gasoline before selling to Marathon Oil Co. in 1960. Hines and his brother Warren then bought a towboat and formed Hines Inc.

With the creation of HFL, Furlong becomes the sixth generation of the family to be involved in the river transportation business, Hines said.

 Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700