Professional Mariner – American Tugboat Review 2022

ANDREW MORAN | Moran Towing, Port Arthur, Texas

Andrew Moran strikes balance between power and agility Over two decades, Moran Towing built a fleet of capable and increasingly powerful 92- and 93-foot tugboats seemingly one after another. Now, the company based in New Canaan, Conn., has shifted gears. Its new class of ship-assist tugboats trades some of that horsepower and bollard pull for agility and quickness alongside…

POLARIS | Polaris New Energy, Jacksonville, Fla.

Polaris ATB helps meet demand for lower-carbon fuels On a recent afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla., the pusher tug Polaris and its barge Clean Canaveral pulled alongside the tanker Eagle Brasilia, ready to supply the ship with liquefied natural gas (LNG). The seamless process, which lasted about six hours, represent a small but important step in a global effort to reduce carbon emissions in commercial shipping. …

ATHENA | Crowley, Seattle, Wash.

Athena solidifies Crowley’s Puget Sound towing fleet Crowley’s latest ship-assist tugboat packs a lot of power into a compact package. Diversified Marine delivered the 77-foot Athena earlier this year using Robert Allan Ltd.’s proven RApport 2500 design. The nearly 6,800-hp tug delivers more than 90 tons of bollard pull, making it one of the world’s most powerful tugboats under…

CHARLES HUGHES | Vane Bros., Baltimore, Md.

Vane Brothers completes historic Maryland tugboat project Vane Brothers and Chesapeake Shipbuilding first partnered on a series of Maryland-built tugboats more than 15 years ago. With the delivery of Charles Hughes in January, that historic 20-vessel order has come to a close. The 3,000-hp Charles Hughes is the fourth of four 94-foot pushboats designed and built at Chesapeake’s shipyard…

JAMES K. | Weeks Marine, Cranford, N.J.

Weeks Marine builds versatility into triple-screw James K. Weeks Marine of New Jersey developed a lugger tug design for three dredge tenders built at Rodriguez Boat Builders of Bayou La Batre, Ala. James K., delivered in late February, is the biggest and most capable of the trio. Shaun O'Brien, Weeks’ senior port engineer of towing, and project manager during…

CAPT. JOSEPH BISSO | Bisso Towboat Co., Luling, La.

Bisso Towboat brings another ASD ship-docking tug to the Mississippi Working ships along the Mississippi River is not the same as the friendly, confined harbors found in many coastal cities. Bisso Towboat Co. of Luling, La., has put its faith in a series of azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tractor tugs that have worked the river faithfully since 1999. The latest…

SPARTAN | Seabulk Towing, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Seabulk Towing welcomes hybrid Spartan in Port Arthur It’s been a while since any American operator invested in a large diesel-electric hybrid tugboat. This year, Seabulk Towing will welcome two. The first boat is the 98-by-43-foot Spartan, built by Master Boat Builders of Coden, Ala., using the RApport 3000 design from Robert Allan Ltd. It will be followed…

RACHAEL ALLEN | Foss Maritime, Seattle, Wash.

Foss adds autonomy system to final ASD-90 tugboat Foss Maritime has added autonomous command and control technology to the fourth and final tugboat in its ASD-90 series. Foss, a Saltchuk Marine subsidiary, installed Sea Machines’ SM300 system on the 100-foot Rachael Allen. It is the first autonomous z-drive tugboat in the United States, although as of early May…

ILLINOIS | The Great Lakes Towing Co., Cleveland, Ohio

Great Lakes Towing Co. builds tugs for a new century of service The Great Lakes Towing Co. is making steady progress with its fleet replacement plan. Illinois departed this spring from Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland for Detroit, roughly 120 miles to the west. It is the sixth of 10 tugboats in the Cleveland class. The seventh tugboat, Indiana,…

J. ARNOLD WITTE | Donjon Marine, Port Newark, N.J.

‘Workhorse’ tug gives Donjon flexibility around New York Harbor Capt. William Sullivan, manager of regulatory compliance and vessel repair at Donjon Marine, summed up the company’s versatile new towboat in just three words. “It’s a workhorse,” he said. A glance at J. Arnold Witte’s AIS track showed that in a 24-hour period, the 78-foot towboat had covered as much of…