Pictured: the Amy Frances Photo by: Birk Thomas

(Mississippi Marine Transport Co., Magnolia Marine Transport Co.)

The Magnolia Marine Transport Company was founded in 1968 to support of Leslie B. Lampton’s rapidly growing fuel oil business. The company's original headquarters was located in Greenville, Mississippi. In the small backyard guesthouse of the company’s then general manager, Mark Shurden.

In 1969, Magnolia Marine Incorporated commissioned LeMay Barge & Supply in Greenville, Mississippi to construct its first vessel, the tug Dorothy Lee which was named in honor of Leslie Lampton’s wife.

That same year, Nashville Bridge Company of Nashville, Tennessee constructed Magnolia Marine Incorporated's first barges the MM-1, MM-2, and the MM-3.

The continued growth of Mr. Lampton’s fuel oil enterprise led to the construction of additional barges and towing vessels. Several of these new barges were double skinned and equipped with onboard hot oil heaters, which enabled Magnolia Marine Incorporated to move fuel oils more quickly and efficiently.

In 1973, to accommodate the company's growing fleet and provide room for repairs and refurbishments, the company opened a small shipyard in Greenville, Mississippi.

In 1975, Magnolia Marine Incorporated relocated to the Harbor Project in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As the fuels industry underwent changes and demand receded, the company diversified into the asphalt market.

The Magnolia Marine Transport Company maintains petroleum transportation fleet consisting of twenty towboats and more than seventy-five barges. The company transports asphalt, crude oil, process oils, fuel oil and additional products on the Mississippi River and Intracoastal waterways of the Gulf of Mexico.