About NABRICO Marine Products: A barge manufacturer, since 1902.
NABRICO Marine Products builds the barges and marine hardware that keep America’s inland waterways moving — engineered, welded, and delivered by people who have spent their lives on the river.
1902 Established Who we are
Independent,
and built to last.
NABRICO Marine Products is a leading manufacturer of barges used to transport cargo on U.S. inland waterways. From our shipyard in Ashland City, Tennessee, we build dry cargo barges — flat-deck and hopper — that move grain, coal, and aggregates, and tank barges that carry petroleum, fertilizer, ethanol, chemicals, and other liquid cargoes.
We are also the largest U.S. manufacturer of fiberglass hopper-barge covers.
Now operating independently as NABRICO, we carry more than a century of river experience into a new era — with the same craftsmanship, the same people, and growing demand for new-construction barges ahead of us.
What we build
Three product lines.
One standard.
Dry Cargo Barges
Flat-deck and hopper barges engineered to move grain, coal, and aggregates efficiently across the inland system.
Tank Barges
Clean, award-winning tank-barge designs for petroleum, fertilizer, ethanol, chemicals, and other liquid cargoes.
Fiberglass Covers
The largest U.S. manufacturer of fiberglass hopper-barge covers — lightweight, durable, and built to protect every load.
Award-winning safety
A safer way to tanker.
Recognized by the American Waterways Operators for the Tankering & Barge Operations Subcommittee (TBOS) Safety Award.
Our team won the 2021 American Waterways Operators (AWO) Safety Award for the new-build 30K Clean Tank Barge. The award recognizes operators that improve equipment or processes to enhance safety during tankering and transit.
The barge was engineered to enhance personnel safety and environmental protection through physical improvements and a new technology platform — covering everything from how crew move across the deck to how the vessel is monitored in operation.
Safety improvements included
Leadership
The people
behind the hull.
Decades of river experience steer every barge we build. Meet the team leading NABRICO into its independent era.
Name Pending
President & CEO
Two or three sentences of bio — years on the river, where they came up, and what they lead at NABRICO today.
Name Pending
VP, Operations
Two or three sentences of bio — years on the river, where they came up, and what they lead at NABRICO today.
David Hughes
VP, Components
Two or three sentences of bio — years on the river, where they came up, and what they lead at NABRICO today.
Name Pending
Chief Financial Officer
Two or three sentences of bio — years on the river, where they came up, and what they lead at NABRICO today.
Our heritage
120+ years
on the water.
From a Tennessee bridge builder to one of the largest inland barge builders in the world — the NABRICO name has shaped marine manufacturing for over a century.
1902 Nashville, Tennessee - 1902
Founded
Arthur J. Dyer founds the company in Tennessee, originally to build bridges and steel infrastructure.
- 1915
Into the water
The company pivots to marine construction, building its first floating derrick hull for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- 1946–1960s
An industry leader
After WWII, focus shifts to private vessels. A signature towboat and tank-barge design with efficient bow rakes takes hold, and by the 1960s the company is one of the largest inland barge builders in the world.
- 1969
New ownership & expansion
Acquired by George Steinbrenner, who expands operations by adding a second shipyard in Ashland City, Tennessee.
- 1972
All in on marine
The structural steel and bridge-building operations are sold off so the company can focus entirely on marine manufacturing.
- 1995
The Trinity era
Sold to the Trinity Marine Group. Soon after, the historic downtown Nashville yard closes to make way for Nissan Stadium.
- 2021
AWO Safety Award
The American Waterways Operators recognizes our new-build 30K Clean Tank Barge with the TBOS Safety Award.
- 2026
Independence
Divested and renamed NABRICO Marine Products — returning to the historic name that defined the business for nearly a century.
Free consultation
Need it built
to your spec?
Talk to the people who will actually build it.