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US owners expand fleets as new energy terminals open
Shipyards are producing series of harbour tugboats to support LNG carriers in Gulf Coast terminals and container ships in East Coast ports
US owners are extending their fleets with newbuild harbour tugs in response to construction of new energy export terminals on the south coast and the arrival of ultra-large container ships on the eastern seaboard.
All these newbuilds are built to ABS class, have bollard pulls of more than 70 tonnes, and feature twin four-stroke main diesel engines driving two azimuth thrusters, connected to exhaust aftertreatment systems to minimise NOx emissions and to comply with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 requirements.
Master Boat Builders (MBB) in Coden, Alabama, is at the centre of tug construction on the Gulf Coast and is producing series of terminal-support tugs for multiple owners who are betting on continuing construction of LNG terminals in the area.
It has produced two terminal tugs for market entrant Maritime Partners and has six more to build in the eight-vessel programme.
All these 27-m tugs are being built to Robert Allan Ltd’s RApport 2700 design to manoeuvre, berth, and undock gas carriers at the growing number of LNG export terminals.
Marauder was the first to be delivered and was operating at a terminal in Ingleside on Corpus Christi Bay in Texas at the start of June, according to Automatic Identification System (AIS) data.
Next will be Titan, which was launched by MBB using a floating dock in May, and should be ready for operations in early Q3 2026. Each has a beam of 13 m and FFV1 firefighting capabilities.
In Q2 2026, MBB also launched and delivered Saturn as the first of the H500 series of tugboats it will be building for Suderman & Young Towing.
Four 30-m vessels are being built for the Texan owner as escort tugs to ABS class and Robert Allan Ltd’s RApport 3000 design, with accommodation for six crew members, a beam of 13 m, a bollard pull of 90 tonnes and a top speed of 13 knots.
This newbuilding programme comes as Suderman & Young is expanding its fleet and marine services in two ports in Texas, Brownsville and Isabel, near the Mexican border.
During 2026, MBB delivered tugboat Jane and then Jill to Gulf LNG Services, a joint venture between US owners Bay-Houston Management, Bay Towing, Moran Towing and Suderman & Young.
These 395-gt tugs were both supporting LNG carriers in Port Arthur, Texas, in late June according to AIS, and were built to a RApport 2800 design with an overall length of 26 m and a beam of 12 m.
In Florida, Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG) launched the second of four 26-m escort tugs it is building for Seattle, Washington-headquartered Saltchuk Marine, with the first close to completion.
These tugs are being built at ESG’s facilities in Allanton and Port St Joe for ship escort and towage across the US West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska. The first was launched in December 2025 and the second in April 2026 by crane lift from the shore to a quayside at the shipyard.
In Boothbay, Maine, Washburn & Doughty Associates launched a new ABS-class harbour tug for New York-headquartered McAllister Towing. Mary McAllister is the sixth newbuild of a seven-tug series and has a bollard pull of 84 tonnes delivered from two diesel four-stroke Caterpillar-manufactured Cat 3516E engines driving two Schottel azimuth thrusters.
This 28-m tugboat has a FiFi1 firefighting system capable of propelling 12,000 gallons of water per minute through pumps and monitors.
Crescent Towing took delivery of new escort-class tugboat, Kentucky, from Blakeley BoatWorks in Q1 2026 to enhance its operations at terminals on the Lower Mississippi River. This 28-m vessel has a beam of 12 m, a draught of 5.8 m, and has 4,475 kW of installed propulsion power coming from twin Caterpillar 3516E engines driving two Kongsberg Maritime US 255 azimuth Z-drives.
Elsewhere in the US, Great Lakes Towing has named its latest newbuild ice-class tug as part of its long-term fleet renewal campaign.
Puerto Rico is the latest harbour tug to enter the fleet after its construction by Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio.
It is the 10th ice-class harbour tug the shipyard has built for its sister company in a newbuilding programme that started in 2016 with delivery of Cleveland.
"Puerto Rico represents our continued commitment to innovation, reliability, and providing exceptional marine services across the Great Lakes," said Great Lakes Towing.
All of these tugs were built to Damen’s Stan Tug 1907 ICE design for ship assistance, towing, berthing, and ice breaking.
Bay-Houston Towing has ordered an ABS-class escort tug from Sterling Shipyard for delivery in March 2028.
This 30-m vessel will be built to Robert Allan’s Z-Tech 30-85 design, with a bollard pull of 85 tonnes, and with twin Caterpillar 3516-E-HD, EPA Tier 4 compliant engines, driving two Schottel azimuth drives, and two Caterpillar C.7.1 auxiliary engines, each delivering 125 kW of power.
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