Foss, part of the Saltchuk Marine family of companies, welcomed Leisa Florence after it was launched by its builders in the US at the end of November
This azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug is the third of the ASD-90 class tugs Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) is building for Foss in Freeland, Washington state.
These ASD-90 class tugs are built to Jensen Maritime’s Valor design, to US Coast Guard’s Subchapter M regulatory standards and with ABS’ Loadline certification with propulsion compliant with US Environmental Protection Agency’s tough Tier 4 emissions requirements.
At least four of these were ordered from NBBB, of which the first two – Jamie Ann and Sarah Averick – have been completed.
“NBBB launched the third ASD-90 tug. Leisa Florence arrived at NBBB’s Langley facility where it will undergo final outfitting, dock and sea trials before delivery in December 2020,” said Foss.
“We appreciate the hard work of our naval architects as they work alongside the team at NBBB from start to finish,” the company added.
A fourth tug newbuilding, Rachael Allen, is following Leisa Florence and is scheduled to be completed in 2021.
Foss’ ASD-90 tugs have an overall length of 31.7 m, moulded beam of 12.2 m and moulded hull depth of 5.2 m, plus 90 tonnes of bollard pull. They each have two MTU series 4000 main engines driving Kongsberg’s US255 azimuth thrusters. For Tier 4 compliance, they have selective catalytic reduction systems for removing NOx emissions.
In the US, several harbour tugs have been built with propulsion systems compliant with EPA Tier 4 emissions reduction requirements. It is a legislative rule and increasingly expected by US ports for new escort and harbour tugs.
Owners such as Brusco Tug & Barge, Crowley Maritime, Bisso Offshore, McAllister Towing & Transportation and Moran Towing have ordered new tugs to EPA Tier 4 in 2020.
Towage services, support vessel newbuildings and environmental operations will be discussed in depth during Riviera’s series of Webinar Weeks and virtual conferences in December 2020 and Q1 2021 - use this link to view details and to register for upcoming events
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