Tagged: industry

Textron Marine & Land Systems' offices will remain in Slidell for at least another year.

The Textron Inc. division said Wednesday that it has a lease extension through May 31, 2014, with two one-year options, pending approval by the Slidell City Council. The current lease ends in May.

The division makes and supports military vehicles, ships and boats. It has leased offices from Slidell since 2007. Its factory is in eastern New Orleans; it has an assembly plant and a warehouse in Slidell.

Terms of the extension were not disclosed in the company's news release.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has awarded a $1 million grant to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge to rebuild a rail line at the marine terminal which was damaged by Mississippi River flooding in spring 2011.

The Advocate reports the money was part of a $200 million appropriation Congress made to help communities that received a major disaster designation in fiscal 2011.

The Coast Guard is investigating an oil platform that caught fire 35 miles off the Louisiana coast. Three people on the rig in the Gulf of Mexico have been safely evacuated.

Capt. James "Jimmy" Cramond has been elected president of the Crescent River Port Pilots' Association.

Cramond is Coast Guard-licensed as a master of steam or motor vessels for inland waters. He replaces Capt. Allen J. Gibbs, who served as president for the past 11 years.

Named to the board of directors were Capt. E. Michael Bopp, vice president; Capt. Eric Short, secretary; Capt. Craig Clasen, director; and Capt. Richard Ducros II, director.