The tugs Rascal and Rowdy don’t seem like outliers on paper, but Robert Allan Ltd. designed the 65-by-32-by-11.5-foot, 2,900-hp vessels to do something ambitious: deliver nearly 40 tons of bollard pull from a “very compact” platform. The twin RAscal 2000-D tugs entered service in late 2024 at Brusco Tug & Barge with little fanfare, despite representing the highest bollard pull…

Larry Gravely is exactly what it was meant to be: a working towboat built for the steady demands of inland service. Built by Diversified Marine in Houma, La., the twin-screw vessel was delivered in April to Vulcan Materials for aggregate operations — moving construction materials, such as sand and gravel — with a design centered on durability, operating speed and…

Jill is the final piece of a carefully built system. Delivered by Master Boat Builders in January, the 92-by-40-by-16.6-foot tug is the last Robert Allan Ltd.-designed RApport 2800 in a six-build series developed for Gulf LNG terminal operations. Jill is part of a standardized platform backed by a multicompany partnership and deployed across dedicated facilities along the U.S. Gulf Coast.…

Saturn marks a step up for Master Boat Builders. The Coden, Ala., shipyard entered the high-performance escort tug market with the April launch of Saturn, the first vessel in a new H500 series based on the RApport 3000 escort tug design. Built for Suderman & Young Towing Company, Saturn precedes three additional vessels — H501 through H503 — already under…

Kentucky is part of Crescent Towing’s growing class of low-emission, high-horsepower escort tugs on the Lower Mississippi River. Built by Blakeley BoatWorks in Mobile, Ala., the vessel follows sistership Angus R. Cooper II as the second in a pair of 6,000-hp z-drive escort tugs delivered through the companies’ continuing collaboration on Mississippi River ship-assist vessels. Designed by Crowley Engineering Services,…