Yazoo River Towing, Inc

Yazoo River Towing, Inc is a towing service in Vicksburg, MS. The company operates a fleet of 28 barges that provide marine transportation and shipping of goods and products along the Yazoo River and across the wider inland waterway system. Together with its sister company, Vicksburg Plant Food, Yazoo River Towing supplies horsepower and barges for a complete freight package, hauling both dry and liquid products in bulk and providing liquid and dry storage at its locations. It holds a rating of 3.70.

The company's roots reach back to 1936, when the great-grandfather of the current generation of owners started a fisheries and survey boat business at the Vicksburg City Front. In 1979, J.O. Smith Jr. launched Yazoo River Towing, with the original job of moving grains and fertilizers on the Yazoo River from as far north as Greenwood, MS, down to the Mississippi River. Since then, the operation has grown to cover the vast majority of rivers flowing into the entire Mississippi Valley River System. Today the company also arranges freight logistics for multi-river freight moves and project cargo transits, and offers fully found vessel chartering for companies needing horsepower throughout the Western Rivers and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways. Its vessels are TMSA certified and SIRE inspected for the use of petroleum and hazardous chemical towing, and the company holds membership in the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc. The shoreside team is led by President Patrick Smith, with Teresa Donovan handling dispatch, Timothy Roberson serving as Port Captain, and Perry Huskey as Port Engineer. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The operation is based on Port Terminal Circle, about a quarter mile from the Coast Guard Pier, roughly 1.5 miles from the USS Cairo and its museum, and around 1.6 miles from the Navy Memorial.

With more than four decades of continuous work out of Vicksburg and credentials covering petroleum and hazardous chemical towing, Yazoo River Towing is one of the established marine carriers serving the Lower Mississippi corridor.