Peter V. Guarisco, offshore oil pioneer
Louisiana Lou
8/8/2005, 4:52 p.m. CT
The Associated Press
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-17/112353431136720.xml&storylist=louisiana
MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Peter V. Guarisco, a pioneer in the development
of vessels to support offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of
Mexico, has died at the age of 77.
Guarisco died Aug. 6 while convalescing at the home of his daughter in
Birmingham, Ala., while undergoing treatment for cancer.
Funeral services will be Saturday in Morgan City, where Guarisco had
lived his entire life.
After serving in World War II as an officer in the Merchant Marines,
Guarisco returned to Morgan City to work in the family seafood business.
Given the choice of a desk or shipping out to Mexico, he quickly chose
the latter and spent the next two years, 1946-1947, aboard the
refrigeration ship M/V Twenty Grand supporting the family shrimping
fleet which had a concession to fish Mexican waters.
About that time Morgan City suddenly made national headlines when
Kerr-McGee Industries drilled the first oil well out of sight of land in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Guarisco began converting idle shrimp vessels into what would become the
first generation of oil field supply boats. During the next 15 years
Guarisco, with his father Victor and brother Luke, built the family's
marine transportation business into the largest boat company operating
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Operating under several names, the organization included several
companies which were later combined under the umbrella of Twenty Grand
Inc., taken public in 1964. Four years later, Twenty Grand Inc. merged
with Tidewater Inc. to become the largest oil and gas marine
transportation company in the world.
The Guarisco family was the largest shareholder in Tidewater Inc.
following the merger.
In subsequent years Guarisco was founder and principal of numerous oil
field related businesses and served on various boards, including Avoca
Inc. and Sterling Sugars Inc.
Funeral services will be Saturday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in
Morgan City, followed by burial in the Morgan City Cemetery. Visitation
will be Saturday from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at Hargrave Funeral Home in
Morgan City.
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Information from: The Daily Review , http://www.daily-review.com/