BRUSCO TUG & BARGE

Alabama Shipyard to Build ATB

Alabama Shipyard, Inc., has signed an agreement with Reinauer Transportation Companies to build an articulated tug barge unit (ATB) with an option for up to three additional units. The 460-ft. barge, designed by Alabama Shipyard, is double-hulled in compliance with OPA 90 regulations. Bob Hill of Ocean Tug and Barge Engineering, designed the 7,200 hp, 124-ft. tug. The ATB features the patented Intercon tug/barge coupler system designed and built by Intercontinental Engineering and Manufacturing Corp., of Kansas City. The system consists of two independently mounted gear-driven ram assemblies, which connect the tug and barge. The connection is rigid and mechanically locked, resulting in a vessel that handles like a conventional ship. The tug pushes the barge, resulting in speed advantages of 35 percent or more, compared to traditionally towed barges, says the company. Engineering has been completed, and construction will begin in February 1999, with delivery of the first unit in late 1999.

Coast Guard Responds to Barge Fire

According to reports, A cargo van whose contents caught fire on a barge was still billowing smoke as the vessel was being towed to Juneau from Frederick Sound. Officials said the fire broke out in the van, which was full of solid waste being shipped on an Alaska Marine Lines barge from Sitka to the disposal site in Washington state. A firefighting tug from Petersburg and a Coast Guard cutter hosed the blaze through the night

Halter to Convert Bouchard Barge, Tug to ITB Unit

Halter Marine, Inc., has signed a contract with Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc. of Hicksville, N.Y. to convert a 446-ft. single hulled, ocean-going petroleum tank barge (B. No. 155) to a double hull to meet the requirements of OPA 90. The contract also includes options for similar conversions of two additional pairs of sister vessels, all of which were constructed at Halter shipyards. The barge's conversion will be accomplished through the addition of an outside hull

Bay Shipbuilding Picks ATB Design

Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corp.'s new ATLANTIC III ATB ocean tugboat design has been chosen by Bay Shipbuilding Corp., of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., a unit of Manitowoc Corp., for construction as the powered portion of a new AT/B the yard will build for Penn Maritime, of Stamford, CT. The 140,000 bbl capacity heated ocean tank barge, will be handled by the latest tug design from Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corp., a long established firm whose focus is AT/B, or Articulated

Owner Liable For Tendering Unseaworthy Barge

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in an unpublished decision, has ruled that the owner of a barge may be wholly liable for damages resulting from its tendering to a tug company a barge that is unseaworthy. In a case reported on the Holland & Knight website, the US Army Corps of Engineers time-chartered a tug to tow its barge up the Mississippi River. The corps personnel didn't lower the boom on the barge

Puerto Rico Towing Receives Tug "HANDY THREE"

Puerto Rico Towing & Barge Co. is expanding the size of its tugboat fleet with the addition of the newly constructed Handy-Three which arrived in San Juan Thursday morning.   Puerto Rico Towing & Barge Co., a subsidiary of The Great Lakes Group, is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has been providing vessel assistance and towing services to commercial vessels and barges in San Juan Harbor, other Inland Ports, and ports throughout the Caribbean for over 15 years

The ATB : A History of the State-of-the-Art

(This is Part II of a two-part series on the Articulated Tug Barge from Robert P. Hill. Part I was published in the September 2 edition of MarineNews.) Why The ATB? The ATB, or "Articulated Tug/Barge" unit is designed to combine the economics of tugboat and barge operation with the speed and weather-reliability of a ship. A hallmark of this concept that makes it different from the ITB or "Integrated Tug/Barge" is the fact that both the tug and the barge are truly independent vessels able

Guarino & Cox Designed ATB Launched

The first of a series of 12,000 hp ATB tugs being built for U.S. Shipping Partners, L.P. was recently launched. But the occasion was devoid of the usually expected thrill and large splash. The building site lacked suitable launching ways so a different, somewhat less dramatic, method was devised. Using multiple tired high capacity transporters the tug was rolled onto a barge, then towed to a graving dock. The graving dock was drained to allow the tug to be freed from the then ballasted

Manitowoc Marine Launches Tug Ocean Reliance

The Manitowoc Company, Inc. announced the successful launch of the 127-ft. tug, Ocean Reliance, the first of two tugs being built at Manitowoc's Marinette Marine subsidiary. When delivered, Ocean Reliance and its sister tug Coastal Reliance will be mated with 155,000-barrel, double-hulled petroleum barges, which are currently being constructed at Manitowoc's Bay Shipbuilding subsidiary. Ocean Reliance is powered by 9

Tug Assists Vessel Towing Fuel

Crowley Maritime Corporation's tugboat Gladiator, the state-funded seasonal emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay, Wash., was dispatched last week to assist a tug towing a loaded oil barge after the vessel temporarily lost its primary electrical power and steering. The Na Hoku was headed down Washington's outer coast when its primary electrical generator engine failed about 12.5 miles west of Cape Flattery. The 105-foot tug was towing a fuel barge containing more than two million