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US owners invest in new tugs and towboats
New vessels have been delivered to meet growing marine transport in ports and inland waterways
US tug owners continue to enhance their fleets by purchasing newbuild vessels as ports in the nation expand and new terminals open. Several US owners have added new escort and ship handling tugs this year, all complying with US Coast Guard rules and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 emissions standards.
Seabulk has introduced four new harbour tugs built by Master Boat Builders (MBB). The latest, Titan, was completed by the shipyard in September and was being prepared for delivery in October, according to one of the leading system suppliers.
This is the second of two escort tugs with Berg Propulsion-supplied hybrid propulsion, built to Robert Allan Ltd’s (RAL) RApport 3000 design.
Spartan, delivered Q3 2022, was the first with hybrid-electric propulsion, with twin Cat 3512E main engines complying with EPA Tier 4, Berg MTA 628 azimuth thrusters, Berg VS3 variable frequency drives with motors, and a hybrid control system.
MBB also built two Rotortugs – Nike and Hermes – for Seabulk to RAL ART 90-98 design with three Cat 3513E main engines, each generating 1,770 kW of power at 1,800 rpm. Both tugs have three Schottel SRP430 Z-drives with fixed-pitch propellers, 87 tonnes of bollard pull and free running speeds of 13 knots.
MBB is close to completing tugs for both Bay Houston Towing and Suderman & Young at its shipyard in Coden, Alabama. It is building three tugs to RAL designs each for the Houston, Texas-headquartered owners and a spokesman for the shipyard says the first of these tugs will be completed soon.
Both Bay Houston Towing and Suderman & Young ordered the tugs July 2022 from MBB to bolster their fleets operating in US Gulf coastal ports. These are in addition to existing contracts the shipyard has with the owners.
They will be built with an overall length of 30 m, beam of 13 m and a bollard pull of more than 80 tonnes, and with two Cat 3516E main engines and ABS class.
Earlier this year, MBB started building another tug for Polaris New Energy (PNE), for a second LNG bunkering unit in the US, with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding constructing the barge.
They will form a second Jones Act-compliant articulated tug barge (ATB) for bunkering ships in Florida for PNE after completion in 2023. This tug will be similar to Polaris, which was delivered Q1 2022 to become an ATB with barge Clean Canaveral, employed by PNE to fuel LNG-powered cruise ships in Port Canaveral in Florida.
Washburn & Doughty Associates is also busy constructing new tugs for owners. On its latest project, the East Boothbay, Maine shipbuilder launched Glosten-designed Seaway Trident, an ice-strengthened harbour tug in October.
This azimuth stern drive (ASD) tug is based on Glosten’s HT-60 concept and was built for Great Lakes St Lawrence Seaway Development Corp to handle ships into harbours and manage ice in winter months. It will undergo sea trials and then sail to the Great Lakes Q4 2022.
Washburn & Doughty also built a powerful tractor tug for Moran Towing’s operations on the US east coast. Dennis Moran is a sister tug to 2021-built Wyatt Moran and Andrew Moran.
Moran Towing says Dennis Moran is supporting Georgia Ports Authority in berthing, towing and handling large ships in the state’s terminals. It has twin Cat 3512E main engines, complying with EPA Tier 4 emissions standards and a combined output of 3,800 kW.
Washburn & Doughty is building two escort tugs for McAllister Towing with the first, Jane McAllister, set to be delivered end-2022, followed in Q1 2023 by sister tug Grace McAllister.
Once finished, these mighty additions will each have 5,050 kW of power. These tractor tugs will have a bollard pull of 85 tonnes coming from two Cat 3516E main engines and Schottel SRP 490 Z-drive units.
Glosten and technology partner ABB have developed a new methanol-hybrid tug, SA-100, for carbon-neutral operations with bollard pull of up to 90 tonnes. This 30-m ASD tug will be powered by two Caterpillar dual-fuel methanol 3500-E series generator sets delivering electrical current to twin L-drives.
This will be supplemented by battery banks, enabling peak shaving during general operations and zero-emissions operations when running light. Batteries will also provide a boost when full bollard pull is required.
Inland towboats
US towboat owner Canal Barge Co will order three vessels and 17 barges after receiving finance from the US Department of Transportation. The Maritime Administration loaned the New Orleans, Louisiana-headquartered company US$51M, to be paid back over 25 years, for these newbuildings.
The loan guarantee was received from the Federal Ship Financing Programme (Title XI) to support the modernisation of the company’s barges and towboats which service the inland waterways of the Ohio, Lower Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Canal Barge will order these towboats and barges from US shipyards.
US towboat owners continue to expand their fleets with new vessels built in domestic shipyards as demand for inland waterways transport continues. Southern Illinois Transfer welcomed towboat Robert S Wilkins to its fleet in September. This towboat was built at Kaskaskia Shipyard, which has started building the next towboat in this series of vessels.
Maritime Partners also welcomed towboat John Austin, which Imperial River Transport brought into service in August.
In September, Andrew Walsh was undergoing sea trials before working for Strategic Marine, Eric Livingston was being prepared to enter service for Maritime Partners and two 2021-built towboats – Lily Brooks and Tucker Hamilton – were heading to begin operations with American Commercial Barge Line.
Steiner Shipyard delivered towboat Falcon in July for Florida Marine Transporters, as the third of a six-vessel order. Serodino delivered Clyde to Logsdon Tug Service as part of a three-vessel series, and C&C Marine & Repair delivered Entech-designed John Austin to Imperial River Transport.
Autonomous navigation
Classification society ABS has issued an approval in principle to owner Foss Maritime and technology developer Sea Machines for its use of a vessel autonomy unit to enhance navigation.
This AiP for the SM300 system, which Sea Machines installed on Foss’ harbour tug Rachael Allen, validates it provides autonomous navigation and collision detection and collision avoidance (CDCA).
Foss uses SM300 and CDCA functions on this tug for routine transit and stand-by operations to enhance safety and alleviate crew fatigue.
Sea Machines’ autonomous device underwent a series of rigorous product reviews to prove the technology met ABS’ requirements for the use of autonomous systems aboard vessels.
The SM300 system also assists with station-keeping and is capable of interfacing with Kongsberg-MTU propulsion systems on Rachael Allen.
“As part of our Always Safe, Always Ready culture, Foss is pleased to be providing the SM300 system for additional crew and vessel safety through the enhanced situational awareness it will bring to our operations,” says Foss project manager Dan Cole.
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