MV Robert Yount Christened, As Part Of Devall Co. Fleet

Engineer Robert Yount has earned the distinction of having a motor vessel named after him.

The recently re-christened towboat, the M/V Robert Yount, will soon be launched back into service for the Southern Devall Company, based in Memphis, Tenn.

Although the man for whom it shall be named won’t be at the helm, the boat’s new title is meant to be a tribute to his 37 years of service.

Pictured above is the recently-christened, M/V Robert Yount. The man for whom the vessel has been re-named is a resident of Gatewood.

Photos provided

Robert Yount was fresh out of high school in 1979, when he started out as a tanker man with Southern Co., an inland riverboat company which later merged with the Devall Co.

After a few years on the job Yount advanced to the engine room, where he has remained throughout his career, (other than a brief period of time when he left to pursue other options).

“I came back, for good, in 1994,” Yount remembers.

As a senior master chief engineer, Yount says he has towed liquid anhydrous ammonia (fertilizer) to ports in Missouri, Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.

“We go south to load and back north to unload,” says Yount.

He is actually the second generation in the Yount family to work on a river boat. His father, Richard, and an uncle, Sam Yount, were both river boat captains.

“Uncle Sam had a boat named after him, too,” remembers Yount, who explains, “This is something the company does to honor employees who have been with them the longest.”

The honoree himself is assigned to the Charles Southern motor vessel.

Yount and his wife, Peggy, reside in Gatewood. They have a combined family of seven adult children and 13 grandchildren.

The M/V Robert Yount was sent to a Houston, Texas shipyard where it received an overhaul and a fresh, new look to go with its new name.

It was recently launched and will continue to be part of the Southern Devall Company fleet of ships in St. Louis.