Four tugs ordered for US LNG project

Gulf LNG Tugs – a joint venture between Bay-Houston Towing, Suderman & Young Towing and Moran Towing – ordered two Robert Allan Ltd-designed tugboats from Coden, Alabama-based Master Boat Builders and another two from Port Neches, Texas-headquartered Sterling Shipyard.

They will be constructed to the Z-Tech 30-80 design to meet US Coast Guard Sub-M regulations and ABS class for FiFi1 fire-fighting vessels.

These 30-m tugs will have a beam of 13 m and bollard pull of 80 tonnes, coming from propulsion incorporating two Caterpillar-manufactured Cat 3516 E diesel engines complying with Environmental Protection Agency Tier-4 emissions standards and ABS low-emissions vessel notation.

Main engines will be connected to Schottel SRP 510 Z drives fitted with fixed pitch 2.8-m propellers. The tugs will be fitted with Markey DEPSF-48-100 HP electric hawser winches with a render-recover feature.

Gulf LNG Tugs selected these shipyards after a bidding process and in consultation with Rio Grande LNG. It had already chosen the tug design as this joint venture already operates 10 of these vessels, which is a proven workhorse in Gulf Coast ports.