Professional Mariner – August/September 2023

Moose Boats selected to build fire department dive boat

The Boston Fire Department’s Special Operations Dive Team has selected Moose Boats of Vallejo, Ca. to build a new custom dive boat. When delivered, the shallow-draft, 46-foot Model M1 catamaran will have both offshore heavy weather and inshore shallow water capability at a top speed of 40 knots and a range of 280 nautical miles. According to Boston Fire Department…

New dredge joins Callan Marine fleet

The Galveston, Texas-based dredging and marine construction company Callan Marine has taken delivery of its new suction dredge General Marshall. The 194-foot vessel was built by DSC Dredge LLC of Reserve, La. The dredger, named for the late General of the Army and Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, is the seventh dredge to join Callan Marine’s fleet and is…

Verret Shipyard delivers towboat Miss Carter W

Houston, Tx.-based marine equipment lessor Marine Chartering Associates LLC has taken delivery of the new twin-screw towboat Miss Carter W. Designed by Verret Shipyard, the Subchapter M-compliant vessel was built at the company’s Plaquemine, La., facility and will operate under charter Orange, Tx.-based Strategic Towing Services LLC (STS), which operates a fleet of 100 liquid petroleum and petrochemical barges on…

Mike Hooks unveils new cutter suction dredge

Dredging contractor Mike Hooks recently celebrated the christening of the new cutter suction dredge (CSD) Lorraine Hooks. The vessel, named after the wife of the company’s founder, was built at Southwest Shipyard in Galveston, Tx., and delivered to its Westlake, La.-based owner earlier this year. The 300-foot Lorraine Hooks, with a dredging depth of 75 feet, “will be deployed on…

Tug Jane McAllister to join McAllister fleet

The ability of New York-headquartered McAllister Towing & Transportation Co. to handle the latest generation of ships will be significantly enhanced with the planned delivery of the tractor tug Jane McAllister. Contracted in September 2021 and under construction as Hull No. 135, the ship docking tug was built by Washburn and Doughty Associates of East Boothbay, Me. The first of…

Major issues ‘round the bend for inland waterways operators

The nation’s inland waterway system is a sprawling 12,000-mile network of rivers that serves as a highway for commerce moving to and from 28 states. Operations on those waters are much the same as they have been for generations – they operate with a fundamental consistency that has 630 million tons of products from soybeans and coal to…

Crowley and CN offer new ocean-rail service

Crowley will launch an end-to-end, integrated ocean and rail service between Mexico and the U.S. Midwest region and into Canada. According to the Florida-headquartered transportation service provider, the new Mexico-U.S. ocean route, will leverage the inland rail network of the Canadian National Railway Company and its U.S. rail subsidiaries “with the companies’ combined network providing a broad reach across the…

New maritime school ships planned and delivered

While there are substantial differences between the maritime environment of the sunny, alluvial Texas shores and the craggy, “rock-bound” coast of Maine, the maritime training schools in both states, Texas A&M Maritime Academy (TAMMA) and Maine Maritime Academy, respectively, are celebrating or looking forward to celebrating upgrades in their training vessels. In the case of Texas, the immediate cause for…

A routine day for the tugboat Savannah

Crescent Towing Capt. Danny Hudson looked at the AIS screen aboard the tugboat Savannah and then glanced down the Lower Mississippi River. He predicted the inbound bulk carrier would round the bend near St. Rose, La., any second. Right on cue, the 623-foot Liberia-flagged, Aye Evolution appeared over the horizon. Riding high with ballast water, the ship towered above the…

A busy spring in the Gulf for the Coast Guard’s ‘Heartland’ district

Every year, the U.S. Coast Guard’s District 8, headquartered in New Orleans, handles more than its fair share of emergency response scenarios. This past spring saw the District’s U.S.-based Gulf sectors responding by air and sea to a variety of urgent events that define just one of the 233-year-old Service’s 11 core missions. Just a few examples… • On March…