Cook Inlet Tug & Barge (CITB), a Foss Maritime affiliate, is expanding its tugboat fleet in Alaska to support growing requirements from marine and hydrocarbon construction projects
It will introduce a versatile shallow-draught tug designed for operations along the Arctic coastline of Alaska.
CITB will add 2013-built Bristol Wind to its fleet in mid-April. It will join sister vessel Capt. Frank Moody to support remote cargo transportation along the Arctic coastline.
These are requirements from the region’s oil, gas and construction industries, said CITB senior director of business development and planning Michael O’Shea.
Bristol Wind was built at Foss Shipyard, in Rainier, Oregon, with a draught of just 1 m, making this tugboat “uniquely designed to operate efficiently as a coastal tug” said Mr O’Shea.
“It has the unique ability to lighten the draught when water depths are extremely shallow,” he added, “allowing Bristol Wind to safely service river and coastal locations that would otherwise be unreachable by conventional tugs.”
Bristol Wind has conventional triple-screw propulsion with three Caterpillar C18 DITA engines driving three five-blade propellers with 104 cm diameter. In the wheelhouse this tug has Furuno radar and satellite navigation, Simrad autopilot, Iridium satellite communications and Icom VHF radio.
CITB will increase its fleet to 11 vessels with the addition of Bristol Wind. Five of these tugs have joined the fleet in the last 16 months, said CITB president Jeff Johnson.
“We are growing our fleet to meet increasing opportunities in Alaska,” he said. “These investments reconfirm CITB’s 96-year commitment to Alaska’s economy,” Mr Johnson added.
Bristol Wind will be homeported in Anchorage, Alaska, after a update and repaint.
CITB was founded in 1924 as the Anderson & Son’s Transportation Co, based in Seward, Alaska.
It provides marine transportation, harbour services and fuel distribution. CITB operates its fleet in the Port of Anchorage and Cook Inlet, Seward, southeast Alaska, Aleutian Islands, the North Slope Prudhoe Bay, and Western Alaska.
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