| 2022 | Quarter 1 | Issue FOUR |
the voyager Newsletter
Welcome to 2022’s first issue of Dupre Marine’s quarterly company newsletter!
CALVIN’S CORNER
A message from Calvin Self
Pride & Passion
What drives us? What is the thing that makes us do what we do…work where we work? I can only speak for myself, but believe it or not, I am a competitive person. I want to be the best at what I do. Every audit or task is like a test for me, and I want to prove that our system is better than everyone else’s. I want to prove that we have the best employees. I want to show that Dupre Marine Transportation is the best at what we do.
How you approach your job says a lot about the person you are. If you take pride in the way you complete a task at work, you probably will take pride in the way you approach tasks at home. You all know what I am talking about. I am sure that all of you have washed your vehicle and when you are finished taken a minute to admire your work. Standing there with a goofy grin on your face thinking about how good you made your ride look. There is nothing wrong with that, it is taking pride in your work and having passion in the way you go about it. Wanting to be the best is not something you can turn on and off. It is something that is always there just below the surface. It is something that you put into everything you do. Pride and passion…to me, those two words sum up everything we are trying to accomplish at DMT. We want to be the best, and that cannot be accomplished without pride and passion. If every employee takes pride in his or her work and approaches each task with a healthy passion, we have no choice but to be the best.
Every Dupre Marine Transportation employee’s career is intertwined. Rory can’t be the best owner, I can’t be the best Vice President, April can’t be the best Personnel Manager, and you can’t be the best at your job without the support of everyone at the company. It takes all of us and everything we do has an influence on others that work at this company. If a Captain of a vessel takes pride in his job and works with passion, his crew will follow and be better for it.
I urge each and every person reading this to take pride in your job and approach everything that is important enough to do with a passion. If we all do this, then half the battle is won, and we will reach our goal of being the best. If you are reading this, work with pride and passion, and you do not work here, give us a call, we are looking for people like you.
crew family
Captain Derrick “Bama” Jarman
From left to right: Capt Trent Stoute, David Delgrandile, Saige Robinson, Tommy Champagne and Captain Derrick “Bama” Jarman
Having a tight knit crew family is important. It takes time to build, teach and nurture. We understand our growing pains at Dupre Marine, with several new vessels and a lot of new crew members, but we notice more and more the Captains building their crew families. We’d like to recognize these crews and let our Captains speak a few words on how they work on team/family building. Here is Captain Derrick Jarman on the M/V Parker James:
“We as a crew on the M/V Parker James start our watch with a crew debriefing. Then we have lunch where we give thanks to our Lord and Saviour for blessing us with a new day and asking him to continue to bless over our crews and families as we go through our day.”
cookin’ in the galley with:Lloyd sauce
It’s crawfish season! And Captain Lloyd Sauce has the perfect crawfish recipe for that leftover pound of tails.
Crawfish cornbread
1 - Box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix (Do Not make according to directions on box)
3 - Eggs
1 - Stick of butter
1 - Chopped green onion
1 - Chopped white or yellow onion
1 - Can of Rotel tomatoes, drained
2 - Handfuls of grated cheese of choice (Colby or Pepper Jack preferred)
1 lb crawfish tails
Mix all ingredients and pour into greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
Season to your taste and enjoy!
Dupre Marine Family
Message from Denise
Early 2018 I received a call out of the blue from Calvin. I was living in Michigan at the time as basically a starving artist per se. I had been out of the towboat industry for 5 years with no interest of going back, teaching art, however a little down on my luck, ok a lot. “Family, Rory and Jaimen are the absolute best, Alva is a sweetheart, small family-owned, Patricia and Priscilla and I moved from New Orleans, love these people, great opportunity, happy, so different from what we know, exciting. Family. Happy”….family. These are bayou people in Houma, close-knit, sometimes hard to understand, loving, giving and full of heart and soul. Calvin, a friend, at the time I hadn’t heard from in a few years was reaching out to me!? I had always respected him. The truck was soon packed by good friends and back to Louisiana I went.
Now, I sit here thinking about this new family I acquired 4 years ago. Work family, sure. Of course, I love my own family a thousand miles away, but this is different. It is supposed to be work, right? It is, but it’s not.
Back to the first year when I met Rory and Jaimen in New Orleans with Calvin. We had lunch at a corner restaurant Uptown New Orleans, close to where I lived, as I was embarrassed that I would have to bus it to another place and could be late. But walking to the restaurant, I decided this is a make or break. I already really liked these people base on the words with Calvin over the phone, but hell, the past few years had taught me a few hard lessons of this new business world. The first thing I asked, was about our social media presence and I claimed I viewed our website at the time, squishing my face, that this is not how we should be portrayed, I mean seriously all photos the engine room doors were open! That could not be! Haha! It was old and just didn’t show the men and the business in front of me. They listened and talked about Dupre Marine, what was happening and the dreams and plans. Jaimen ate his lunch in about 2 minutes, they laughed, the restaurant was filming something behind the scenes, telling us we couldn’t use the bathroom. It was a fun lunch, so funny and so weird, but so comfortable, like lunch with brothers.
That was my first task…family, the Dupre Marine family.
I started an Instagram page then I ramped up the Facebook page, which hadn’t really had a post in 3 years! Then I concentrated on LinkedIn and started working on our website, which you are obviously on now and recently expanding to TikTok . I took this task on as my own personal endeavor to boost up Dupre Marine, let everyone know about this family owned towboat company! I had no idea that people would be looking to us, not just because we were a charter company of Kirby, I’m talking regular people, people that worked and lived where our boats traveled, and even people from other states and countries! We just grew in a slow bayou sort of way.
I think the biggest part for me is that a North Carolina author, C. Marshall Turner, a Louisiana native, was following us on Instagram. She wrote a book at the time “A Cajun Journey” and it was wonderful! Then she reached out to me, well Dupre Marine, because who knows who is behind the social media curtain! She was curious about the tugboat/towboat industry and how it started. She grew fond of our little family, of Rory and what he created. She connected the photos and posts to a loving family man. She was writing a second book and wanted to talk to Rory and Calvin.
She saw a quiet man who cared deeply. “His caring came through when he talked about creating a work environment that is more like a family environment”.
She told me this when I messaged her after I finished reading her newest novel “A Cajun Life” last night. The main character, influenced by her meeting with Rory, owns a towboat company in, of course, Houma called Dupre Marine Transportation. It’s all about family. All about a man and the relationship with his family, which consists of his personal family, his community, his friends and his employees. It’s an important message, and really right in front of each of us everyday. I told the author, unrelated, I got to the end and cried because I lost my dad several years ago, but this touched a part of me with the father reaching out to his child. That family connection.
After four years, I am reaching out to the guys working their butts off for a man some know very well and some who barely know. You are working for and with a family with deep roots, strong values, caring, hardworking, bleeding for you as well as you do them. This is a company, a family, that can drag you a thousand miles away and pull you deep into their graces.
wheelhouse spotlight: Jeff verdin
Relief Captain Jeff Verdin on the M/V Brendan K
On his days off, Jeff Verdin spends time at home with his wife and children in Montegut, Louisiana, busy with his family and chickens. At work, Jeff Verdin, Relief Captain on the M/V Brendan K, has been working hard achieving his goals over 8 years at Dupre Marine from Deckhand to Tankerman, to his mate pilot’s license and now in possession of his Master’s license. Working hard for his family and home life!
Jeff is always willing to help out however he can, going over and above, not just on the Brendan K, but on any of the boats he has graciously filled in on. Everyone really appreciates his hard work and great attitude. He has a passion for his work and and that is recognized by everyone at Dupre Marine; he defines our company culture. And besides that, Jeff is just a great crew member and an all round good guy!
Thank you, Jeff, for all your hard work and dedication for the past 8 years!
deck crew spotlight: Saige Robinson
Jonathan “Saige” Robinson hard at work on the M/V Parker James
Just 2 years with us and we already know Jonathan “Saige” Robinson is going to have a great career as a Captain one day at Dupre Marine! His awesome work ethic and positive attitude say it all. He has not stopped working since day one; he knows what it takes and he lives and works the culture that surrounds him.
Saige is a family man coming to us from Arkansas. Ah, but he is not only a family man to his wife and children, but a true crewman to his vessel family. And a really good guy too, who not only understands what it takes to have that Dupre Marine culture, but shows it in his work and with a smile. Never a complaint to get the work done that is needed, going over and above to keep the vessel shipshape and training fellow crew members to make the M/V Parker James and Dupre Marine the best!
We appreciate you, Saige! We look forward to see your career grow at Dupre Marine.
safety topic: the error chain card rolling out soon!
By Calvin Self
This will be the front/back of the Error Chain card
STEP #1: There are 13 links in the Error Chain. Prior to beginning work, go through all the 13 links to discover risks.
STEP #2: If you answered “no” to all of the questions, proceed with caution. If you answered “yes” to any of the links, go to Step #3.
STEP #3: Eliminate the risk or hazard and go back to Step #1. IF you answer “yes” to any of the links on the Error Chain for a second time, use STOP WORK RESPONSIBILITY and contact your supervisor.
The Error Chain a risk management tool, and soon we will be replacing the SafeCHECK tool we use for tasks, that don’t require a JSA, with the ERROR CHAIN tool. This will work great because it asks specific questions about what to look for. SafeCHECK basically asks “is it safe to proceed”. That is not good enough.
This tool (for now) will be a card that every crew member will be required to have with them at all times and use it. We do not want to hear our guys won’t use it. It will be the job of the Captain and Shoreside to ensure each crew member is carrying it. I know implementation will be hard and will take time to get used to, but what we are doing is stale and no longer works. If we want to improve, we have to change the way we think about every task!
⚠️
It is the goal of Dupre Marine that all employees work safe hitches and go home to their families after their hitch is completed
no harm is the goal
wheelhouse:
assist vessel requirement
Regardless of the above, ALWAYS USE AN ASSIST VESSEL at a fleet and any other questionable time. If there is not an assist vessel available, call your Port Captain, Frank Bumgarden ASAP. At that time, you (officer on watch) and Frank can determine if STOP WORK should be used or wait until an assist vessel is available. Most of our incidents as of recent were due to not utilizing an assist vessel and deeming the situation “ok to proceed”. Do not second guess or assume, use an assist vessel.
coming soon: summer heat!
By the time the next newsletter rolls around in the second quarter, the heat will already be upon us! Be proactive and get ready for the sun and heat on your vessel.
Check out the Heat Safety Topic post from the second issue of our newsletter last year.
In this post we go over:
SIGNS OF HEAT ILLNESS
WHAT TO DO WHEN HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES OCCUR
HOW TO BEAT THE HEAT
Click on the HEAT SAFETY button and scroll half way down the newsletter for all the info:
This is the Think 72 flyer handed out yearly with some great information for heat safety
Favorite social media photo
One of the shoreside crew was asked to choose their favorite photo from our social media pages for the Quarter and this one was chosen! A beautiful photo sent in by Captain James Davis on the M/V Everard Dupre when they were in Corpus Christi.
CONTENTS
Calvin’s Corner
Employee Spotlights
Safety Topic
DMT Anniversaries
Company Updates
From the Crew
What’s Cookin’?!
Just for Fun Quiz
DUPRE MARINE’S ANNIVERSARIES for 2022 first Quarter
April Granger ~ January 1st ~ 2 Years
David J Verdin ~ January 5th ~ 7 Years
Joe Williamson ~ January 18th ~ 6 Years
Don Rodrigue ~ January 31st ~ 2 Years
Quinton Johnson ~ February 9th ~ 1 Year
Bryce Larousse ~ February 15th ~ 1 Year
Mike Travis ~ February 23rd ~ 1 Year
Cleve Vincent ~ March 3rd ~ 2 Years
Rob Moorman ~ March 5th ~ 1 Year
Eric Spencer ~ March 8th ~ 1 Year
Raymond Maxie ~ March 10th ~ 1 Year
Jeremy Cavalier ~ March 18th ~ 9 Years
Ian Bailey ~ March 19th ~ 1 Year
Naru Rodrigue Jr ~ March 22nd ~ 1 Year
company updates
It’s already through the 1st Quarter at Dupre Marine and we are changing and growing! First, the M/V Kylie Dupre was sold at the end of January. Then the M/V Alva Dupre went on charter to Kirby. The most exciting vessel news is the next new vessel build will start soon to hit the water later this year!
Great news for the company is our Port Captain Frank Bumgarden is back in the office and on the boats!
The Dupre Marine 401 K plan is rolling out soon. Please check your personal emails as we are sending notices out to each employee. If you wish to participate, please contact Edward Jones (info on email) to start your plan. There will be a website also to monitor your plan. Employees that were hired as of January 1, 2022 are grandfathered in. You will be able to start immediately. There is a 30 day waiting period to enroll in the plan for new employees. Changes can be made to this plan in WRITING at the beginning of each Quarter. More information will follow.
A reminder ALL crew members who work on vessels in unit tow service must be clean shaven, regardless if our crew members are tanking or shore tankermen are utilized. This is a DMT policy as well as our customers.
Stop right now and check the expiration dates on all your credentials (MMC, Medical Card, TWIC, Drivers License, etc). Although we track your info in Helm, it is only ninety days from expiration. With your time on the boat and the time it takes to get the process done, you could expire and not be able to work. This is your livelihood, your career, so keep track of it please.
If you have ANY changes to your address, personal info, marital/child status, banking info, please let Jamie know as soon as possible! You can call her during office hours or email her directly at jrobichaux@dupremarine.com. Please also know that any of these changes must come directly from the employee.
Do you get stuff shipped to the office for crew change? We are more than happy to get your packages to the vessel, but please help us out and text/call/email to let us know when it is coming so we can look out for it.
For those who are new or may not know, this website and our social media pages are filled with photos and videos sent in mostly by our crew members or Frank, Jeremy and other towboaters. If you have photos you want to share, please send them to Denise via text, email or dm on our Instagram or Facebook pages. If you haven’t done so, please check out all the amazing contributions on all our socials and this website. And we are now on TikTok @dupremarinetowboats for any video contributions!
If any of our crew members would like to contribute content to future newsletters, please email Denise dmorencie@dupremarine.com
Office hours are 0800-1700 Monday to Friday, please note the times you contact shoreside during off hours when it is not urgent. If it can wait until office hours, please call then, and of course if it is urgent call the necessary contact for the problem.
Did you know if you have the BEST Near Miss and/or Stop Work Responsibility (SWR) submission, you can earn extra Safety Reward points. Last quarter we had a couple crew members receive over 175 Safety Reward points! Submit as often as possible in HELM!
Here are a few past examples:
near misses
From M/V Parker James:
The oven was preheating. A pot with grease in it was found in the oven. The pot was removed before it was too hot.
From M/V Everard Dupre:
While almost finished building tow, I began to feel exhausted, like there was no air , and became "shaky" and like I was about to hit the deck. I was staying hydrated , but sometimes hydration isn't the issue its the body temperature. I took a break cooled off about 15 mins felt better and resumed work
stop work responsibility
From M/V Rex Dobson:
Upon discharge of the chem3701 (Gasoline product) Tankerman Cleve was set up to start discharge, when preforming his walk around of the pump he noticed product leaking from a threaded collar on the pump its self, he immediately performed his stop work authority and shut down the transfer, before any major spilled occurred. He then proceeded to inform the Captain on watch (Alex) and it was concluded we could not discharge the product safely. Alex notified DMT personal, and ACBL personal, all preventive measures where take to prevent any and further spillage. ACBL barge repair division was notified.
From M/V Miss Genevieve:
While approaching the lock wall north bound, abreast of the long wall and attempting to secure the tow on the pin that the lockmaster instructed us to tie to. It was noticed that the pin was damaged and marked with red tape. We stopped, called the lockmaster and got permission to move forward to the next pin.
Remember to submit your Near Misses and Stop Work Responsibilities in Helm regularly. They are not only strong safety learning tools, but also recognized in the charter group and rewarded from Kirby Inland Marine. An important recognition.
⚠️ Always be ready to work wearing the proper PPE and wearing it correctly! Your PPE will NOT protect you if it is not the correct type, is damaged or worn and if is not on correctly and adjusted properly!
⚠️ Be responsible and know what PPE is required to use in your particular work situation Check yourself and ask yourself if you have on what is needed and required to be safe for that job
⚠️ If you have any questions concerning your PPE, please contact Port Captain Frank Bumgarden
⚠️ Steel toe boots are required footwear. All Dupre Marine crew members will get $100 towards new boots: all deck crew every 6 months and wheelhouse every year. Please get with April, Denise or Michael when you need to purchase new steel toe boots. We use Joe’s Boots in Houma, which we will payroll deduct the amount over $100 or you may purchase elsewhere and submit your receipt to April for a reimbursement up to $100. We are now tracking boot purchases. Deck crew this is an important part of your PPE, so please make sure your boots are in good shape always. Captains, please inspect the boots of your crew regularly. If you have any questions, please contact Frank.