The following is the text of a news release from Conrad Shipyard:
(MORGAN CITY, La.) — Conrad Shipyard conducted sea trials on the Harley Marine Services tug OneCURE and the 80,000-barrel, double-hull oceangoing barge Edward Itta as a combined articulated tug-barge unit (ATB). The trials were conducted Oct. 26, 10 miles south of Port Fourchon, and the vessels have been accepted for delivery.
Vessel trials included crash stops at various speeds, basic and high-speed maneuvering, systems monitoring, and tests of main engine steering. Harley Marine offshore port engineer Randy Boyne, who was on board, reported that the vessels responded as expected.
“We put the ATB through its paces, tested all systems, and she performed extremely well. She’s a beautiful vessel that will be a great addition to our fleet,” he said. Boyne said the ATB is scheduled to pick up a load along the Gulf Coast and head through the Panama Canal to a port on the West Coast. The ATB will be assigned to work in the waters of Alaska.
The vessel names have a very personal meaning for Harley Franco, chairman and CEO of Harley Marine Services. The tug OneCURE honors his lifelong friends Larry and Sherry Benaroya of the Benaroya Research Foundation for their efforts in fighting diabetes in the Pacific Northwest. The barge is named for Edward Itta, an American Inupiat politician, activist and whaling captain who died of cancer in 2016.
Conrad Shipyard has previously delivered 22 vessels to Harley Marine Services and currently has three ocean tugs under construction.
