June 2009 - Alabama State Port Authority

Seabulk Towing: Providing Service
Excellence Through Safety
An Anaheim Angels logo demonstrates the Flogo system.
Francisco Guerra with a Flogos machine outside of the research and
development facility at SnowMasters in Lexington, Ala.
Currently flogos are limited to four feet in height. “We are
working on larger machines to create larger flogos, as well
as computer-controlled machines so that the stencils will
not have to be changed out for each new logo,” said Guerra,
“They are now also available in every color.”
Flogo being released in downtown Tampa to promote the Tampa Bay Rays
winning last year’s division championship.
colleges, such as Auburn University, and at music festivals
like Birmingham’s City Stages.
Flogos’ white cloud-like foam is made up of bubbles filled
with air and helium (about 1 percent helium and 99 percent
ambient air). The clouds have very little moisture weight, so
they are dryer, can stay intact longer and are able to float
higher than normal bubbles. Because flogos are comprised
of natural elements, they will eventually evaporate, which
makes them environmentally safe.
Flogos are launched from a black box. The box produces
the white cloud-like foam and pushes it through a custom
stencil. Once the flogo reaches approximately four inches
thick, the machine cuts the foam and the flogo is released
into the skies. On average, one flogo per machine will be
launched every 15 to 50 seconds, depending on machine
size and flogo thickness.
This Alabama entrepreneur has gone global. “Flogos has
stimulated interest everywhere. We’ve done it. We’ve reached
our goals all over the world,” remarked Guerra.
Flogos now has five distributors in the United States and thirteen
other countries, including Israel, Japan and Nigeria. Recently,
SnowMasters closed its doors on production in China.
When asked about the closing in China, Guerra said, “It’s not
as profitable as is once was, plus it was taking all the jobs
from home.” After the closing of the production buildings in
China, SnowMasters began construction on two buildings in
Lexington, Alabama, to replace them and bring jobs back to
Alabama. Guerra also spoke of another project. Flogos recently
bought a water park in Florence, Alabama, and it is
being turned into Flogos Fun Land.
When asked about the impact Flogos has had on the rural
community of Lexington, Guerra said, “We’ve produced more
than $20 million in revenue — for a rural community that is
great. We’re the largest in the area.” This Alabama-based
company is continuing to grow. Now that they have colored
clouds, the next endeavor will be clouds that glow in the dark
that can be launched into the night skies.
For more information about Flogos, please visit www.flogos.net.
For nearly fifty years, Seabulk Towing has been an established leader in harbor ship
assist operations and offshore towing services. Seabulk Towing’s high standards of
customer service are founded on the basic principles of safety and service excellence.
Headquartered in Port Everglades, Florida, Seabulk Towing assists petroleum and
chemical product tankers, barges, container ships, and other cargo vessels in docking
and undocking and provides a variety of offshore towing services along the Gulf Coast
and the Southeastern Seaboard.
Ship Assist & Towing Operations
www.seabulktowing.com | (954) 523-2200
18 Alabama Seaport • june 2009
SBLK Towings FP Ad.indd 1
3/5/07 11:03:03 AM