Search Results for: american tugboat review

Around this time last year, the tugboat building industry in the United States showed signs of a rebound. They weren’t exactly the “good old days,” but after some lean years the industry appeared heading in the right direction. Then, shortly after the new year, a once-in-a-century pandemic brought economies around the world to a screeching halt. By mid-May, more than 95,000 Americans had died from COVID-19 and more than 36 million lost their jobs from the ensuing economic disruption. Projections about the recovery yield wildly different timetables, ranging from six months to a year to five years or longer. But how soon the economy rebounds, both in the U.S. and in big industrial countries around the world, could determine how soon tugboat operators feel comfortable committing to major capital investments.…

For nearly four years, E.N. Bisso & Son’s Gladys B. was the lone z-drive tugboat designed by Robert Allan Ltd. working the Mississippi River. Now, it has some company.   Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Fla., delivered the 80-by-38-foot C.D. White in January 2020, and as of April 2020 was building a sister tug. Both are robust RApport 2400-series tugboats outfitted for ship handling and ocean towing.   “It’s a go-anywhere tug,” said Mike Killelea, E.N. Bisso’s port captain.   By that, he meant ship assist and escort duties over 230 miles of the Mississippi River from Pilottown near the river’s mouth to Baton Rouge, and ocean towing primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast. “The tug is very stable with plenty of power and is the…

P&R Water Taxi built its first Tiger tugboat in 90 days in 2002 after winning a U.S. Navy ship-assist contract in Pearl Harbor. The Honolulu-based company built 10 more over the next nine years as its Navy contracts and ship-assist work took off.   Almost two decades later, the original Tiger design has evolved into a nimbler ship-assist platform optimized for Hawaii’s commercial ports. P&R built Tiger 21 and Tiger 22 at its shipyard in Kewalo Basin, located just a few miles west of Waikiki Beach. Company founder and owner Charlie Pires collaborated with Stoddard Marine Design of Hilo, Hawaii, on the design.   Tiger 21 and Tiger 22 are essentially next-generation versions of the original 94-foot Tiger tugs Pires and Stoddard developed in 2002. The two series have plenty…

Mazu Capt. Nick Payne stood by while mate Brandon Conner approached the containership Molly Schulte midway between Bayport Channel and Barbours Cut in the Houston Ship Channel. Conner, who was training in real time on the new tugboat, maneuvered to the stern. Ordinary seaman Richard Fernandez attached the heaving line to the hawser and got the line on the ship centerline aft.   With Mazu tethered to Molly Schulte, Conner steered to starboard out of the ship’s wake. Mazu ran with the cargo ship on its way to the Barbours Cut Container Terminal.   Jobs like this one are common in the Houston Ship Channel, and as ships get bigger, tugboats that work them are getting more powerful and more capable. Mazu, the third Z-Tech 30-80 tugboat in the Suderman…

Capt. Mark Williamson steered Western Towboat’s newest harbor tug into Elliott Bay on a cool, clear late February day. Other mariners working in the busy harbor took notice.   “That’s a nice-looking boat,” said David Trickett, who oversaw lightering of gypsum from the bulk carrier Astoria Bay anchored nearby. “Roger that,” Williamson responded. “Taking it for a test run here.” Mariner is the third of Western’s Westrac-series tugboats, and like its two predecessors Westrac and Westrac II, it was built at the company’s shipyard along Seattle’s Lake Union. Capt. Russell Shrewsbury, whose grandfather started Western Towboat in 1948, worked with KraftMar Design and Argonaut Marine, also of Seattle, to fine-tune the plans. Capt. Russell Shrewsbury, seated at the controls, worked with KraftMar and Argonaut Marine to update Western’s proven Westrac…

For most tugboat companies, building one new azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tugboat would make for a pretty good year. McAllister Towing and Transportation added two within just eight months.   The 6,772-hp Capt. Jim McAllister left Eastern Shipbuilding in late August 2019, arriving soon afterward in Charleston, S.C. The 100-foot vessel routinely escorts and assists post-Panamax containerships calling on the sprawling Wando Welch Terminal across the Cooper River in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Eileen McAllister, a 93-foot, 6,772-hp, ship docking and escort tugboat built at Washburn & Doughty, provides similar services in Port Everglades, Fla. McAllister paired Eileen with Tate McAllister, built six years ago with the same hull but different propulsion and winch packages.   Both new tugs are powered by brawny Caterpillar 3516 Tier 4 engines paired with Schottel z-drives.…

Foss Maritime Company has updated the venerable Valor-class azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tugboat for a new era.   Foss, a Saltchuk subsidiary based in Seattle, took delivery of the 100-by-40-foot Jamie Ann this spring from Nichols Brothers Boat Builders. Jensen Maritime Consultants and Foss partnered on upgrades to the existing design that include new safety features and crew amenities. The MTU Tier 4 engines are the first for any U.S. tugboat.   Jamie Ann, named for Saltchuk co-founder Fred Goldberg’s daughter, will work in Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif., escorting and assisting containerships and tankers. It is also equipped with large fuel tanks and a sturdy towing winch to handle rescue tows far from shore. Bollard pull is 92.36 tons off the stern and 90 tons off the bow.   “It’s…

In 1999, Bisso Towboat of Luling, La., introduced the first tractor tug on the Mississippi River with the delivery of Cecilia B. Slatten.   With the delivery of Andrew S. in November 2019, Bisso has introduced the first Tier 4 tractor tug on the mighty river. At 6,008 hp, it’s also the most powerful. Main Iron Works in Houma, La., the towing company’s go-to-boatyard for nearly 30 years, built Andrew S. Bisso’s 13-boat fleet now includes eight z-drive tugs, boasting the largest tractor tug fleet on the inland waterways.   “The company is committed to z-drives,” Bisso Towboat President Scott Slatten said. “They have proven admirably suited to ship-assist work in tight spots and in the river’s difficult currents. They’re also not as vulnerable to river debris as once thought.”…