Aurora | Suderman & Young Towing Co., Houston, Texas
For many years, Suderman & Young Towing Company used smaller conventional tugboats to assist ships into narrow slips in the upper reaches of the Houston Ship Channel. Those tugs have now been replaced by three modern, low-emission, azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tugboats designed to operate in tight confines and shallow waters.
Aurora is the third of three Robert Allan Ltd.-designed RApport 2600 tugboats in a series built by Master Boat Builders of Coden, Ala. Like sister tugs Eva and Brizo delivered within the past 18 months, Aurora is powered by twin 2,213-hp Caterpillar 3512E main engines driving Schottel z-drives. Bollard pull exceeds 52.5 metric tons ahead in an 85-by-38.5-foot package.
“We wanted a boat that had a little shallower draft but still had the power to do what our customers needed them to do and what the pilots asked the tugs to do,” said Kirk Jackson, president of Suderman & Young.
“Working with Robert Allan and using their RApport 2600 design, we were able to do that. They were able to put as much power into that package as they could,” he continued. “These boats have served their purpose very, very well.”
Suderman & Young dates back to the late 1800s when Capt. Charles Suderman and a partner, Ben Dolson, opened a stevedoring business. According to company history, they bought the steam tugboat Louise and assisted ships around Galveston, Texas, about 50 miles from Houston on the Gulf of Mexico.
John Young bought out Dolson in 1916, and brought with him to the venture six tugboats, including the first diesel-powered tug operating on the Texas coast, the company said. And in 2001, Suderman & Young merged with Intracoastal Towing and Transportation. These days, the company’s fleet of 24 tugboats operates in ports between Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, including Texas City, Freeport and Galveston.
The Port of Houston is well known as a global hub for the oil and gas industries and petrochemicals. And it’s increasingly a top destination for containerized cargo, too. Port of Houston data from 2022, the most recent year available, shows Houston as the top U.S. port for foreign and domestic waterborne tonnage and the fifth-ranked port in terms of total 20-foot equivalent units handled. The total value of its foreign cargo in 2022 was more than $240 billion.
The sheer amount of cargo running through Houston means two things: lots of port calls from very large ships along the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel, and just a lot of port calls, period. Those vessels require a lot of ship-handling tugs to keep commerce moving.
Thirteen tugs in the Suderman & Young fleet have at least 5,150 hp and 65 tons of bollard pull, and eight of its Z-Tech-class tugboats deliver more than 6,300 hp. But not every ship needs that much power during normal docking or sailing maneuvers. And, just as important, tugboats with that much power often cannot work the tighter slips and shallower bayous closer to downtown Houston.
“We are really trying to build a diverse fleet. We’ve built the 75s and then the 80s,” Jackson said, referring to the three Robert Allan Ltd. Z-Tech 30-75 tugs and the five Z-Tech 30-80s. “With the age of the smaller tugs, we felt like these RApport 2600s were the right tugs to build at the right time.”
The RApport 2600 tugboats are a modern version of the classic Robert Allan Ltd. tugboat design that helped popularize ASD propulsion. The original design dates back some 30 years to the Cates-class tugboats built for C.H. Cates and Sons of North Vancouver, B.C. Robert Allan Ltd. describes this tugboat class as simple and cost effective to build and outfit, with a “slippery” hull form ideal for quick maneuvers and rapid response.
“The design is compact. Therefore, it is suitable for ship-assist operations in … narrow channels because it’s easy to operate and maneuver,” said Xuhui Hu, a Robert Allan project director on the design along with project manager Mavis Ye. And with a maximum draft of 14 feet, 4 inches, these tugs can work where others cannot.
Suderman & Young tugboats are crewed and operated by G&H Towing, and Jackson spoke highly of their training and professionalism. The typical four-person crew aboard Aurora works a seven-day watch. Suderman & Young paid close attention to the outfitting and put a premium on crew comforts.
Examples of this include ample use of sound-dampening insulation and interior materials, as well as resilient-mounted engines to minimize vibration. The electric Markey winch on the bow also operates quietly, even during heavy ship-assist maneuvers.
“As busy as these tugs are, we care about their comfort and in-between work periods and want them to be able to rest and make a nice meal,” Jackson said. “It is not exactly like being at home, but we want to give them as much as we can. We don’t cut any corners.”
The vessel is designed with four cabins — two on the main deck and two below in the bow. There are two full heads, a comfortable galley and a separate mess with comfortable seating and a large flat-screen TV. The tugs have ample storage and a modern washer and dryer.
In the engine room, two Tier 4 Cat 3512E main engines are located forward of two John Deere four-cylinder engines driving 99-kW gensets. The Schottel z-drives are equipped with MariHub technology to gather performance data, help crew stay on top of maintenance and optimize vessel operations. The space is bright, open and designed to give crews ready access to critical systems.
Aurora’s wheelhouse is outfitted and equipped the same as its predecessors in the series, Eva and Brizo. That means Furuno radars, GPS and AIS, plus Icom VHF radios. Large windows improve visibility and reduce blind spots.
Garrett Rice, president of Master Boat Builders, described the three-boat order for Suderman & Young as a successful project. The yard focused on maximizing its capabilities and capacity to complete the order, which paid dividends as the project matured. Shipyard crews turned out six RApport 2600 sister tugs for Suderman & Young and another operator within a year.
“Watching us gain efficiencies and watching the boats get better and better through the series is what you’d expect to see,” Rice said in a recent interview.
“Suderman & Young is a fantastic operator that knows what they want and what to expect, and we benefit from knowing their expectations,” he added.
As of press time in mid-May, Master Boat was close to delivering the 7,000-hp Artemis to Suderman & Young. The vessel represents an upgraded version of the Z-Tech 30-80 class of tugboats and is a near sister to Mercury, delivered in 2020. Artemis is expected to deliver close to 90 tons of bollard pull. Two 105-foot Robert Allan Ltd. RAstar 3200 tugboats also are on order from Sterling Shipyard in Port Neches, Texas, with delivery planned in late 2025. The tugs will each provide more than 100 metric tons of bollard pull.
The RAstar 3200 is the biggest tug Suderman & Young has ever built, and a great complement to the smaller, compact RApport 2600 tugs that have served the company well over the last year.
Jackson said of the newbuild program, “It really gives us a great fleet mix to continue to service our customers.” •