03 Mar

New tug simulator will incorporate operating characteristics of winch and line

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
  This digital rendering depicts the way the Energia Costa Azul liquefied natural gas project in Baja California will look upon completion of the marine terminal. The 2,100-foot-long breakwater is designed to protect a one-ship berth. Four escort tugs with a bollard pull of 75 tons are being built in Spain for Moran Towing. MarineSafety International is programming its tug…
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20 Nov

With a history of innovation, AmNav is ready for the future

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
Capt. Marc Fankhauser in the pilothouse of the AmNav tug Revolution. (Photos by Alan Haig-Brown) It would be an understatement to call the San Francisco Bay ship docking market highly competitive. As vessel and crew costs escalate, the several fleets that crowd the market fight for share. Among the most forceful of these is AmNav Maritime Services.   Upstart schoolteacher…
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20 Nov

Slow-to-arrive z-drive units create headaches for tug operators and builders

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Tugboats & Towing
Ocean Henry Bain is a new tug employing controllable-pitch propellers. The vessel is the third in a series of 5,000-hp z-drive tugs built for Ocean Group, a Quebec company that operates on the St. Lawrence River. The tug has Rolls-Royce drives with CP props in nozzles. (Mac McKay) What takes longer than ordering a new Toyota Prius, or, say, obtaining…
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24 Oct

Turn it off!

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook, Tugboats & Towing
It’s 0430 in New York Harbor and promising to be a very busy day. There’s a line of ships stretched out from the “Con Hook” range to Ambrose Tower. I’m steering from the upper wheelhouse of a 4200 hp tug, pushing a light oil barge, and bound for Bayway barge docks. I’m relieved that I’ve managed to stay ahead of…
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06 Aug

New tug simulator makes debut at West Coast training facility

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training, Tugboats & Towing
By Gregory M. Walsh  Pacific Maritime Institute in Seattle has developed a training program incorporating what it said is the only full-scale marine simulation program in the United States developed exclusively for tugboat operators. PMI's marine simulation theater, designed as an actual tugboat wheelhouse, includes full controls for tractor-style tugs and conventional tugs, simulation programs involving typical tugboat scenarios and…
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