Crowley Maritime has chartered a new escort tug, being built in Oregon, US, for ship assistance in west coast ports
It has entered into a bareboat charter with Brusco Tug and Barge for a newbuild harbour and escort tug being completed by Diversified Marine in Portland, Oregon.
This azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug will be renamed Hercules after delivery this week.
Crowley will use the Robert Allan-designed tractor tug to serve Pacific Northwest and California ports. It will be employed to escort ships into port and manoeuvre them in harbours to their berths.
“This high-performing tug exemplifies our continued commitment to providing the best technology and performance in our fleet of tugboats on the west coast,” said Crowley’s marine service group vice president Johan Sperling.
“Our customers count on our fleet to be efficient and dependable and Hercules adds another highly reliable asset,” he said.
Hercules is a RAmpart 2500 design ASD tug with full Caterpillar Marine propulsion, complying with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Tier 4 emissions requirements. This includes twin Cat 3516E main engines that develop 2,240 kW at 1,800 rpm driving Caterpillar MTA 627 azimuth thrusters with 2.7 m diameter propellers providing a bollard pull of around 81 tonnes.
Caterpillar is also supplying Cat C7.1 generator sets that produce 118 kW of electrical power.
Crowley said it would start service in Puget Sound and is capable of handling operations in Crowley-serviced ports throughout California.
“Technology on Hercules will ensure our customers’ ships get in and out of port efficiently to meet the demands of their supply chains,” said Crowley general manager for ship assist and escort services Porter Sesnon.
Hercules will assist large tankers, container ships and general cargo ships.
On the US east coast, Washburn & Doughty has ordered Schottel propulsion for a new harbour tug being built for Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp (SLSDC).
This HT-60 tug, designed by Glosten, will have two Schottel Rudderpropellers type SRP 210 FP with 1.4 m diameter fixed pitch propellers.
These will be driven by a pair of diesel engines complying with EPA Tier 3 emissions requirements. Each SRP 210 will require 500 kW of power and together will drive this new tug up to 14.5 knots.
These thrusters will be equipped with Schottel’s DNV GL type-approved Leacon system, which ensures permanent monitoring of the propeller shaft and steering seals.
This non-oil-to-water interface system complies with EPA’s vessel general permit legislation without the need to use environmentally acceptable lubricants.
The HT-60 tug will be used for construction and maintenance duties for the US portion of the St Lawrence Seaway.
“These duties include routine maintenance of lock gates, maintenance and positioning of aids to navigation, ice management and removal of accumulated ice from lock walls,” said SLSDC deputy administrator Craig Middlebrook.
This ASD tug will have an overall length of 18.3 m and beam of 8.5 m to manoeuvre inside lock chambers. It will be ice strengthened and have a deck crane for marine construction operations.
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