With the crack of a champagne bottle, Renee Whatley on Friday christened the Renee T. Whatley -- the first boat to have such a ceremony at the Port of Alexandria. A crowd of 40 to 50 people viewed Friday's christening ceremony, an event as timeless as sails and sailors. In this instance, the vessel was the newest towboat in the fleet of Terrell River Services, which has been plying the Red River Waterway since it was opened to traffic. "This is the third of four boats that we are building or scheduled to build," said Thomas Gattle, president of Terrell. Gattle said the boat was named for his sister-in-law and the oldest daughter of his now deceased partner, John Terrell. "I think our boats now would be responsible for moving the largest tonnage on the Red River," he said. The company currently operates three boats on the Red River, and most of the other boats in the fleet have plied the waterway at one time or another, he said. "Terrell is the Port Authority's largest client. They have 16 employees here," Marion Chaney, chairman of the authority, said. John Marzullo, executive director of the port, said the Port of Alexandria could never have achieved its size and activity without Terrell. "The fact that they chose to christen a boat here, the imagery is so powerful," said Elton Pody, president of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce. "This is the busiest port on the Red River now." Gattle said the towboat is slightly smaller than others in the fleet and was built specifically for Red River activity. Originally published January 13, 2007

Buy this photo  Zoom Photo Leandro Huebner/The Town Talk Renee Whatley smashes a bottle of champagne on the prow of a river tugboat named the Renee T. Whatley at the Port of Alexandria wharf Friday. Helping her is Johnnie Martin with Terral River Services Inc. The new tugboat will be used to push barges loaded with commodities to different ports on the Red River.  Buy this photo  Zoom Photo Leandro Huebner/The Town Talk In an old tradition for new maritime vessels, a bible is given to tugboat captain David Poindexter (center) by Johnnie Martin of Terral River Services Inc., as Tom Gattle, president of the company, looks on.