6 History

Located on the bank of the Mississippi River since 1853, the Bisso family has long been a part of the American maritime and offshore oilfield history. The father of what was to become BISSO MARINE, Joseph Bisso, began in the maritime industry by constructing wooden rowboats which he used to move passengers and commodities across the Mississippi River in New Orleans. The human powered rowboats soon gave way to steam power and by 1890, Joseph Bisso was engaged in the marine transportation business. By the late 1890’s, Joseph Bisso and his son William A. Bisso were moving cotton and timber along the Mississippi River between Northern Mississippi and Southern Louisiana. By the early 1920’s, in addition to the ship docking, harbor towing, ship bunkering and coaling services, William A. Bisso, Sr. purchased the company’s first derrick barge and was thereby performing stevedoring, salvage and diving operations.

By the mid 1940’s as the offshore oil industry was in it’s infancy, William A. Bisso, Sr. began to venture offshore using the steam powered derrick barges to install some of the earliest offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. It was also in the 1940’s when the company began routine ocean towing to the Caribbean and South America.

William A. Bisso, Sr., and his son W. A. Bisso, Jr. continued to support the maritime and offshore oil industries, both inshore and offshore, performing heavy lift, salvage and towing services. By the 1960’s, BISSO MARINE built the company’s first A-Frame derrick barge, CAIRO, with a capacity of 360 tons, which at the time was the largest such heavy lift derrick barge in the United States. In the 1960’s and early 70’s, the D/B CAIRO was used to load out or launch a majority of the newly constructed vessels as well as many production decks and jackets from fabrication yards.

The mid 1960’s, W. A. “Cappy” Bisso, III, joined his father to become the fourth generation to be involved the family business. As in the previous generations, Cappy Bisso would continue to expand the capabilities of the company and in 1976 introduced the 650 ton capacity D/B CAPPY BISSO. The D/B CAPPY BISSO, in conjunction with the D/B CAIRO, would load out 800+ ton packages from both shipyards and fabrication facilities. Further expanding the fleet, in 1987, the 600 ton capacity D/B LILI BISSO was introduced and the D/B CAPPY BISSO was upgraded to 700 tons. Along with some of the company’s other support equipment, the BISSO MARINE dead lift capacity was just under 2000 tons. BISSO MARINE holds the Harvey Canal lift record of 1235 tons.

By the early 1990’s, Cappy Bisso and his son, W. A. “Beau” Bisso, IV, rededicated BISSO MARINE to offshore service with the addition of the D/B BOAZ to the fleet. The D/B BOAZ, a 250 ton revolving construction derrick barge, is ideally suited for offshore installation and removal projects, salvage, heavy lift, pipeline support, diving and tie-in operations. Along with a larger A-Frame derrick barge support, the D/B BOAZ has performed a significant number of offshore installation and removal operations.

In early 2005, BISSO MARINE again expanded its services with the conversion of the D/B BIG CHIEF to a combination derrick laybarge. The newly classified DLB BIG CHIEF allowed BISSO MARINE to expand its services to include pipelay and pipeline removal. Once proving to be a contender in the pipeline market, BISSO MARINE introduced the laybarge MIGHTY CHIEF. Launched in mid-2006, the L/B MIGHTY CHIEF doubled the pipeline capabilities of the company making BISSO MARINE a significant Gulf of Mexico contractor.

Under the direction of Beau Bisso, the fifth generation to operate the family business, and supported by a highly experienced team, BISSO MARINE conducts operations both inland and offshore, providing construction, pipeline, heavy lift, diving, salvage, wreck removal, technical lifts, thruster replacement, engineering, project management, towing and marine transportation services.

Looking to the future, BISSO MARINE plans to continue to fulfill the needs of customers and expand services in hopes that the sixth generation, William A. Bisso, V and Joseph R. C. Bisso will one day walk in the foot steps of their predecessors and continue the long family tradition.
 

Bisso steam tug tows tall mast ship in Port of New Orleans.
C. 1910's

Manual chain jacking device used in early days of salvage
jacks provided 18" per day of back breaking lift.
C. 1920's

4 MORE HISTORICAL IMAGES