US owners expand fleets with newbuilding tugs

EN Bisso & Son has boosted its fleet with the delivery of a new Z-drive harbour tug and seen progress on a second newbuilding.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group delivered the first of two 24.3-m tugs it is building at its Allanton facility in the US. The second tug, A Thomas Higgins, is scheduled for delivery later this year.

CD White completed its bollard pull testing, witnessed by ABS and received its US Coast Guard Sub-M Certificate of Inspection on 8 January 2020.

This tug has a stern pull of 67.6 tonnes and bow pull of 65.2 tonnes, a 11.6 moulded beam, 4 m hull depth, and full power of 3,800 kW.

It was built to a Robert Allan RApport 2400 design with Caterpillar-supplied main engines that comply with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 and IMO Tier III emissions requirements. These will drive two Kongsberg US205 P20 Z-drives.

Robert Allan’s RApport 2400 design was customised by the owner, builder and naval architects to provide specific operational features, including a high bollard pull forward and aft, enhanced manoeuvrability and escort performance, better fuel economy, crew comfort and reduced emissions.

In addition, Metairie, Louisiana-headquartered Maritime Partners has added more towboats to its fleet providing transportation services on the Mississippi River system.

In December 2019, Raymond Butler, a 1,940-kW towboat, joined the fleet after its delivery by John Bludworth Shipyard in Corpus Christi, Texas.

This is the latest in a series of towboats built by the shipyard that included Ouizee, which was named in October 2019.

Maritime Partners has also added towboat Miss Sally Dane after it was named at Intracoastal Iron Works, in Bourg, Louisiana.

• US owners invest in Mississippi tug fleets
• US$7.5M granted for US inland waterway projects
• US operators order two towboats and a pilot vessel

Elsewhere in the US, Turn Services will dedicate two towboats for transporting liquid and bulk cargo along the Houston Ship Channel using the Intergulf Fleet.

New Orleans-headquartered Turn Services is one of the largest independent barge fleeting and shifting companies in the US and has been named the operator of Intergulf Fleet, which has space to fleet 52 barges.

Turn Services president Mario Muñoz expects services in the Houston Ship Channel area will be extended to “include shifting services to Beaumont and Corpus Christi” in a future expansion.

The Intergulf Fleet services major refining and chemical facilities in proximity to the barges.

Turn Services said it would add more towboats to these services if there is demand.