On Friday, October 26, 2018, the sun was shining and the smell of a fresh Boucherie was in the air as members of the Benny Cenac Towing Company, Cenac Marine Services, attended a celebration for a partner in maritime education. SLCC and the
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) celebrated their new and recent partnership at the Maritime and Corporate Training Center in Houma. SLCC administrators along with area dignitaries shared remarks and then later enjoyed the afternoon over delicious food and discussing of what exciting things are to come in the future for both parties are they partner together.
The program began with a warm welcome from Mr. Anthony Baham of SLCC and was followed by fellow representatives of SLCC Dr. Craig McClain, Dr. Kristine Strickland. Also in attendance were Mr. Gordone Dove, Parish President, Mr. Jerome Zeringue, Represented of District 52, and Ms. Beryl Amedee, Representitive of District 51.
Mr. Walt Cenac with the Benny Cenac Towing Company was in attendance of the open house for CEO and Owner, Benny Cenac. The company, donated a fully refurbished barge to SLCC’s Maritime Training program back in November 2017. The dedicated barge, which measures 158 feet by 40 feet, is an exact replica of a standard Cenac Marine Services tank barge with all the bells and whistles. These updated real life barge features now allow for the highest quality education and training for those that attend the program that are set to be the next generation of maritime industry leaders.
The very first open enrollment class began in August. Depending on the size of the class, hands-on barge training can last approximately eight hours long. The goal of the South Louisiana Community College and their Maritime training program is to offer the class every two weeks, depending on instructor availability. They currently have two Cenac Boat Captains serving as tankerman instructors during their off time. The Cenac instructors have been certified through the state of Louisiana to teach the course. It takes a total of 32 hours to complete the tankerman training course. After completion of the course, they are required to complete basic firefighting training before they can become a certified Tankerman.
Mr. Arlen Benny Cenac Jr. stated, “From the very start of this project I have been excited about what we can offer to the community and to those interested in becoming Tankermen. My company and I are fortunate to have the opportunity to provide a hands-on learning experience to many people for years to come.”
The Benny Cenac Towing Company was very proud to be a part of the open house that took place at the Maritime Training Center. The event was perfect and closed out with words from Mr. Stevie Smith in place of Mr. Vinny St. Blanc, Louisiana’s Community and Technical College’s(LCTCS) Board of Supervisors.
To learn more about South Louisiana Community College and its Maritime training offerings, please visit, http://www.solacc.edu. More information on this inaugural class was featured on Workboat’s website. To read about the barge dedication that took place in 2017 please see this article.