Tugboats & Towing – Professional Mariner

22 Nov

Great Lakes Towing acquires former Cleveland fireboat

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & TowingFireboats, Great Lakes, Ports

(CLEVELAND) — The Great Lakes Towing Co., (GLT), a leader in specialized marine services, has acquired the fireboat Anthony J. Celebrezze, formerly owned by the city of Cleveland. The purchase is intended to provide GLT with a firefighting platform for response to a shipboard or shoreside fire, particularly in those ports where a high volume of winter ship repair work…

30 Oct

SEACOR sells inland river division to Ingram Barge

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towingbrownwater

(FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.) — SEACOR Holdings announced Tuesday it has signed an agreement to sell Inland River Transport Holdings (SCF) to Ingram Barge Co., a division of Ingram Marine Group. “I am extremely pleased to enter this transaction with Ingram, one of the most respected river transportation providers,” said Eric Fabrikant, chief executive officer of SEACOR. “As an organization, Ingram…

20 Oct

Retired canal workboat to become part of N.Y. exhibit

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & TowingErie Canal

(WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.) — The New York State Canal Corp. has announced that one of its retired canal workboats, Tender 4, will be displayed in the city of Amsterdam’s Riverlink Park as part of a new educational exhibit featuring the history of New York’s canals in the Mohawk Valley. The vessel being donated to the Montgomery County community has supported…

25 Sep

Crowley wins design, production contracts for Crescent tug

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towingshipbuilding

(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — Crowley has won the design and production contracts for a 92-foot Tier 4 ship-assist tugboat for owner-operator Crescent Towing. The new tug design offers enhancements from the existing Crowley Engineering Services-designed tugs for Crescent, including additional horsepower that increases the vessel’s capability to meet demanding operational requirements. Advancing the high-performing fleet, the tug will feature twin Caterpillar…

07 Sep

Master Boat, Sterling to build four tugs for Texas LNG facility

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & TowingLNG, shipbuilding

(HOUSTON) — Gulf LNG Tugs of Brownsville has announced the signing of contracts with Master Boat Builders and Sterling Shipyard for each to construct two tugboats to serve the Rio Grande LNG export facility (RGLNG), which has commenced construction in Brownsville, Texas. Execution of the construction contracts represents an important milestone for Gulf LNG Tugs’ commitment to provide dedicated tug…

05 Sep

America’s first licensed female tugboat captain dies at 82

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.) — Elsbeth Smith, born in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1941, peacefully passed away surrounded by her five children in St. Augustine on Aug. 15 at the age of 82 due to cancer. Co-owner of Smith Maritime from 1968 to 2000, she earned her captain's license in 1973, making her the first licensed female tugboat captain in American…

31 Aug

Towing safety report shows second-lowest crew fatality rate

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towingbrownwater, safety, U.S. Coast Guard

(ARLINGTON, Va.) — For almost 30 years, the Coast Guard-AWO Safety Partnership’s National Quality Steering Committee has been tracking overall trends in towing industry safety and environmental protection, which it conveys in an annual report. This year’s report, compiled by the Coast Guard Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis, included the following notable findings: • The 2022 crewmember fatality rate…

29 Aug

McAllister’s latest Tier 4 tug arrives at Port of Virginia

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towingshipbuilding

(NORFOLK, Va.) — Jane McAllister, McAllister Towing's newest Tier 4 tugboat, has arrived at its home in the Port of Virginia. The 93-by-38-foot newbuild is equipped with two 3516E Caterpillar engines, producing 6,770 horsepower, linked to twin Schottel SRP 490 z-drives. The tug achieved over 91 short tons during its ABS bollard pull certification. The eco-friendly Caterpillar engines, combined with…

29 Aug

Kirby christens nation’s first plug-in hybrid inland towboat

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towingpropulsion

(HOUSTON) — Kirby Inland Marine christened Green Diamond, the nation’s first plug-in hybrid electric inland towing vessel, at a ceremony in Houston on Friday. The vessel will be time chartered by Shell Trading (US), which will use the boat to push barges throughout the Houston port region. Shell Energy Solutions is providing electrical power matched 100 percent by Green-e certified…

25 Aug

RAL to design methanol hybrid fuel cell tug for Svitzer

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & TowingClimate change, propulsion, shipbuilding

(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — Svitzer and Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL) have entered into an agreement to design the world’s first methanol hybrid fuel cell tug. Utilizing a combination of batteries, fuel cells and gensets, this tug will operate completely free of diesel fuel and is a major step forward on Svitzer’s path to the decarbonization of its global towage fleet.…