Marquette Transportation Company, named for both
Father Jacques Marquette and
Marquette University, was founded in 1978 in
Cassville, Wisconsin. Since 1991 the company is headquartered in the port city of Paducah, Kentucky. In 1992 John Eckstein took over as CEO. In 1990's Marquette changed from a barge operator to a line-haul towboat company then later started leasing its barges to its towing customers. Today Marquette's River unit operates more than 50 line-haul vessels and over 800 dry cargo barges. In 2007 Marquette Transportation added Eckstein Marine Services and HLC Tugs, which became the company's Gulf-Inland and Offshore divisions, respectively. Marquette's Gulf-Inland Division operates more than 60 inland towing vessels across the U.S. inland and
Intracoastal Waterway system with an emphasis on the
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from
Brownsville, Texas to
St. Marks, Florida. Marquette's Offshore Division operates towing in many locations both in and around the U.S., including the Eastern Seaboard, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, as well as Central America, and Mexico. In 2015,
BDT Capital Partners acquired a majority interest in the company. ==Gallery==