Milwaukee Tugs

[tugboathunter]

Hi William, thanks for that response, I somehow missed that entire premise of your previous post. Thanks again for the help.

[William Lafferty]

William, I’m curious where you see the Edward E. Gillen III listed as owned by Gillen. That tug has been sailing as the Paul L. Luedtke for the past several years.

As I noted, the post was ten years old, and the Gillen was still Gillen property then as the firm awaited absorption by Michels.

[tugboathunter]

William, I’m curious where you see the Edward E. Gillen III listed as owned by Gillen. That tug has been sailing as the Paul L. Luedtke for the past several years. Is there another Edward E. Gillen III? Interesting that the Kristin J. was dropped from documentation. On google maps it appears in Waukegan harbor but I’m not sure how old that imagery is.

[Mr Link]

This website appears current, although that can be hard to judge : https://gillenmarine.com/

The State of Wisconsin lists the following companies as active with Andria Jackson of Mequon WI as corporate agent:

Edward E Gillen Company
Edward E Gillen Marine LLC
Gillen Marine Contracting LLC (see website above)

The following have been dissolved:
Gillen Foundation Inc
Gillen Foundation, LLC
Gillen Marine Corp
Gillen Marine LLC


The agent for Michels Corp is out of Brownsville WI, so I get the impression that two independent marine contracting companies (Gillen Marine Contracting LLC and Michels Corp) wound up using assets of the initial company. But they may be affiliated. Its also possible that Gillen Marine Contracting owns no tugs or barges and rents or leases them from Michels Corp. Years and years ago I worked for Glawe Inc out of Alpena. We did a ton of shoreline protection projects but never owned any marine equipment of our own.

[The Schipper]

From Great Lakes Tugs & Workboats
Terry
AUGUST 21, 2019 AT 10:11 AM
The Leona B used to push Coal Barges up and down the Milwaukee and Kinnikinnic, and Menomonee Rivers.
But since WE Engergies stopped using coal in their Valley Plant, Leona was out of work. A few months ago I saw her sail up the KK river. I feared she was retired, or worse. Today I saw her sporting a new coat of paint. She is working for Michels Corp pushing a barge of boulders out into Lake Michigan!

[William Lafferty]

I posted this here ten years ago about Gillen:
__________________________________
Gillen is and isn't active, depending upon how you look at it. The old Gillen was broken up into two parts earlier this year:

http://www.gillenco.com/

Gillen Foundations was sold earlier this year to Michels Corp., a major utility contractor in Wisconsin, and last month its name changed to Michels Foundations. Michels now owns the tug Edith J. The Kristin J. was dropped from documentation in May, and I don't know her status. The Edward E. Gillen III is listed as still owned by the original company. My guess is both will be redocumented by Edward E. Gillen Marine LLC.

Gillen got into financial trouble as a result of its contract for breakwater construction at Chicago last year.
_________________________________

The first Leona G. left documentation on 31 March 2002. It was at Milwaukee as late as summer 2017. I can't imagine it has not been scrapped. It was probably still owned by Balestreri.

[tugboathunter]

I think I answered the first question, as Gillen’s marine equipment now appears to operate out of Waukegan. Still would appreciate any insight on the Leona B.

[tugboathunter]

Is the Edward E. Gillen Company still in service? A few years ago they still owned one tug, the Kristin J. However they no longer seem to have any presence in Milwaukee.

Also, can anybody confirm if the first Leona B (former Advance No. 2) was scrapped? It is no longer sitting on Jones Island where it had been for years.