Construction starts on Crescent Towing, Boston Towing newbuilds

Crescent Towing is preparing to take delivery of a new Z-drive tugboat, and to begin constructing the next in the series in Q3 2025, to bolster its fleet assisting ships in ports along the Mississippi River.

Blakeley BoatWorks plans to construct Hull 115, a new 4,480-kW, azimuth stern drive tug, with exhaust aftertreatment units for compliance with US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 emissions standards. This will be built in Mobile, Alabama as the third in a series of three vessels. The second, Kentucky, is set to be delivered to Crescent Towing’s Mississippi River operations in September 2025.

“Our ongoing newbuild initiative, in partnership with Blakeley BoatWorks, emphasises our commitment to providing our customers with the most powerful and technologically advanced equipment in the industry,” said Crescent Towing president Scott Cooper.

“Following the delivery of Hull 115, we plan to continue this initiative long-term to further strengthen our fleet and best serve our customers.”

This new 28-m escort towing vessel, to be named at a later date, was designed by Crowley Engineering Services with a 12-m beam and a draught of 6 m. It will have two Caterpillar-manufactured Cat 3516E main engines, each producing 2,240 kW to power two Kongsberg 255 azimuth thrusters with fixed-pitch propellers.

“Adding new 4,480-kW Tier 4, Z-drive tugboats to our fleet provides our team with more incredible tools to continue to offer the safest and most reliable towing services on the Mississippi River,” said Crescent Towing executive vice president and chief operating officer, Keith Kettenring.