Naval architects are often quick to point out that U.S. tugboat operators trail their European and Asian counterparts when it comes to adopting new technology. Lately, however, the gap appears to be narrowing. One diesel-electric, ship-assist tugboat has already been delivered, and at least five more are planned or under construction. These tugs represent the first non-conventional propulsion system on a U.S.-built tugboat since Foss Maritime’s Carolyn Dorothy was delivered almost a decade ago. This new generation of hybrid tugboats has one big difference from the original concept on Carolyn Dorothy: No battery power storage on board. One after another, all three operators with hybrid projects made clear they had little interest in battery-electric hybrid systems. “We explored batteries but quickly moved on,” said Shawn Bennett, CEO of Baydelta Maritime,…
Capt. Mike Harbarth steered Delta Teresa away from San Francisco’s Pier 17 and headed east. He slowed the new diesel-electric hybrid to a crawl as a sailboat or two clambered past. Then he started showing off. The gleaming tugboat spun clockwise and counterclockwise as nearly 100 people snapped pictures from shore. Most significant of all, the vessel performed these maneuvers without its main engines. Delta Teresa, named for the wife of Peter Zwart, Baydelta Maritime’s late vice president of operations, is the first tractor tugboat in the world with Rolls-Royce (now Kongsberg) diesel-electric propulsion. Captains can run the vessel using electric motors powered by up to four Caterpillar gensets or using just the twin 2,650-hp Cat 3516 Tier 3 main engines. Both systems can run simultaneously for maximum power. Bollard…
Baydelta Maritime has a tradition of naming its tugboats after its owners’ wives and daughters. Delta Teresa, named for Teresa Zwart, the wife of Baydelta’s late vice president of operations, Peter Zwart, represents a break from that tradition. Zwart was instrumental in Delta Teresa’s construction and outfitting, and he performed similar work on other Baydelta tugs through the years. Zwart died unexpectedly in January at age 68, and he never saw his final boat to completion. Speaking through her daughter, Teresa Zwart described the May 4 christening at San Francisco’s Pier 17 as a bittersweet day. Shawn Bennett Although it fulfilled one of her husband’s longtime wishes to see a vessel named in her honor, his absence was felt by dozens of friends and former colleagues gathered for the ceremony.…
Harbor Docking & Towing Capt. Scott Lantier eased Ralph off Washburn & Doughty’s dock and steered south in the Damariscotta River. The main engines stayed silent as the tugboat climbed to 8 knots against a 3-foot swell. Down in the engine room, a single Caterpillar C18 engine provided electric power for motors mounted aft of the z-drives. A second C18 automatically fired up as Lantier requested more power, and an internal control system equalized the load between the two engines. “I am impressed with it so far,” Lantier said as he stared south toward open water, “especially with the electric mode. It’s very smooth.” Washburn & Doughty built Ralph and sister vessel Capt. Robb at its East Boothbay, Maine, shipyard. Both are based on the yard’s proven 93-foot hull form,…
Shaver Transportation has added a brawny new tugboat capable of handling just about any work that comes its way. Samantha S. is an 8,432-hp powerhouse built with a striking square bow. With over 110 tons of bollard pull, the tug is easily the most powerful on the Columbia River. It is slated to join Shaver’s fleet based in Portland, Ore., around June 1. Diversified Marine built the vessel in Portland based on a Jensen Maritime Consultants design. Samantha S. is intended to be a true utility player, handling ship assist and docking, offshore rescue tows and barge tows. The unusual square bow will be handy escorting big ships through the notorious Columbia River Bar. “If a ship crosses the bar without escort, enters the narrow fairway of the channel and…
Containerships and tankers calling U.S. ports are getting bigger. By necessity, tugboats that handle these massive ships are growing, too. Mark E. Kuebler is the first of five Tier 4 tugs built for Bay-Houston Towing Co. of Houston. Gulf Island Shipyards is building the series at its Jennings, La., yard based on the new Z-Tech 30-80 design from Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C. Philip Kuebler is president of Bay-Houston Towing Co. and son of the vessel’s namesake. He cited an increased need for larger tugs capable of escorting and assisting neo-Panamax containerships and very large crude carrier (VLCC) tankers. VLCCs can reach 1,500 feet long and 200 feet wide. “Just a few short years ago, before the export ban was lifted, refined products were leaving our ports in smaller…
Modern tugboats are increasingly designed and outfitted to perform multiple jobs, from barge shifting to ship escorting and docking to rescue towing. Moran’s newest vessel focuses on what it does best: Escorting and docking big ships. Judy Moran, named for the wife of senior vice president Ned Moran, is a sibling to Benson George Moran now working in Port Arthur, Texas. Both have EPA Tier 4-compliant engines and the same 93-by-38-foot hull form. Both also were designed and built in East Boothbay, Maine, by Washburn & Doughty. Judy is the 40th tractor tug delivered to Moran from the yard. At 6,772 hp, Judy Moran is the most powerful tugboat in the company’s already stout Norfolk fleet made up entirely of tractor tugs. It entered service Sept. 4, 2018, and has…
The Great Lakes Towing Co. operates some of the oldest harbor tugboats in the country, thanks largely to its presence in freshwater ports. Its newest tugs will be some of the most environmentally friendly. Great Lakes Shipyard, a division of the towing company, is building four tugboats at its yard west of downtown Cleveland. Ohio was scheduled to enter service in the Port of Toledo around June 1. Sister tugs Michigan and Pennsylvania will be finished in July and October, respectively. The fifth vessel, expected by mid-2020, has not been named yet. The new tugs are based on the same 65-foot Damen 1907 ICE-class platform as Cleveland, built two years ago. But Ohio features a hybrid generator system, eliminating the need for a second diesel genset. Michigan and the two…
When Sause Bros. President Dale Sause ordered a pair of 128-foot offshore tugs in 2018, he had complete confidence in the finished product. It’s not often an owner can be that certain, particularly when working with a new shipyard. The 128-by-35-foot Apache and Geronimo, still under construction at Diversified Marine as of mid-May 2019, are updated versions of the Mikiona-class oceangoing tugboats Sause engineers developed in-house more than a decade ago. The former J.M. Martinac Shipyard in Tacoma, Wash., delivered Mikiona in early 2007 and Cochise later that year. The newest iterations feature twin Tier 3 2,000-hp MTU engines, Reintjes reduction gears and Nautican nozzles. They also have more advanced navigation electronics than their predecessors and updated Rapp winches fore and aft. But at heart, they are mirror images of…
Young Brothers began carrying cargo between the Hawaiian Islands long before they even became a state. Its new class of oceangoing tugboats will keep the critical service going strong well into the future. Young Brothers is a Foss subsidiary based in Honolulu. The company has taken delivery of three new 6,000-hp tugs, with a fourth due in summer 2019. Conrad Shipyard of Morgan City, La., delivered Kapena Jack Young last August, followed by Kapena Raymond Alapai in November and Kapena George Panui in March 2019. Kapena Bob Purdy is the final boat in the series. Each is named for a former Young Brothers captain. Damen Shipyards designed the 123-by-36.5-foot vessels based on its Stan Tug 3011 model. The Young Brothers tugs are the first in the U.S. built to a…
