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…
Read More
14 May

Foss, with help from port agencies, developing first ‘green’ tug

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
With hybrid power packages popping up in practically every arena, it was inevitable that the tugboat industry would soon come forth with its own version, especially considering the long history of diesel-electric power for tugboats in the last century and for other types of workboats in the current century. Now it looks as though concern over air pollution in the…
Read More
28 Mar

Bouchard’s ATB fleet leads the pack

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
It is hardly a race, but Bouchard Transportation of New York finished up in 2006 with the largest fleet of articulated tug barges (ATBs) in the nation. Other East Coast companies, notably Penn Maritime and K-Sea Transportation, are seemingly working hard to best the Bouchard ATB fleet.At the end of the year Bouchard, which has been converting existing tug-barge assets…
Read More
01 Mar

Compelling electronic displays may have contributed to collision

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
Over-reliance on an electronically integrated navigation system by an inadequately trained operator may have played a significant role in a collision between Atlantic Huron and the Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender Griffon in September 2000, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has concluded. The collision occurred on western Lake Erie at night in good visibility. The Coast Guard vessel was…
Read More
28 Feb

Integrating AIS with other bridge electronics

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Tugboats & Towing
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) was originally conceived as a safety and navigation aid for ships at sea. Mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and implemented and enforced by member states, AIS provides information otherwise unavailable to a crew. AIS transponders act as conduits for information about a vessel, gathering both dynamic data about a ship, such as position,…
Read More
28 Feb

In response to terror concerns, AIS website limits access to live data

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
A British-based company has stopped offering on its free website live, detailed automatic identification system (AIS) data gathered from networks worldwide after a shipping organization complained terrorists or pirates could use the information to endanger shipping. AIS Live Ltd., a Dutch-British company decided to limit vessel information on its public website and restrict the more detailed service to annual subscribers,…
Read More
28 Feb

AIS makes its presence felt

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & Towing
It's one of the most revolutionary developments in marine navigation: the universal automatic identification system (AIS). The transponder broadcasts a broad range of information about a ship on VHF marine radio, including its position, speed, direction, cargo, classification and destination. An AIS unit transmits all this information in real time, ship to ship and ship to shore, without a central…
Read More