COASTAL TOWING

Boston Towing to Get New Support Tugs

Boston Towing and Transportation Company have contracted with Robert Allan Ltd., Naval Architects of Vancouver, B.C., to design a pair of new offshore LNG Terminal Support tugs to provide the services required for The Neptune LNG LLC, Deep Water Port, offshore Massachusetts Bay. The larger of the new vessels, designated as an ASD 39/70 Class tug by Robert Allan Ltd., will be the first of its kind built and operated in North America, although there are numerous other RALdesigned tugs, including many of the similar RAstar Class tugs currently building worldwide for major oil and LNG terminals. The second vessel will be a modified RAmparts 3000 Class tug, which will primarily be engaged in harbour duties, but will serve as the back-up vessel for the larger tug during service periods. The new tugs will be suitable for a wide range of duties including harbour towage and ship-handling, fire-fighting, coastal towing, salvage and rescue towing operations, however the primary role will be standing by tankers using the offshore mooring buoy.

Trinity Industries to Construct Tank Barges for Kirby

Kirby Corporation has signed a contract with Trinity Industries, Inc. for the construction of 16 double-hull, 30,000 barrel capacity, inland black oil tank barges. Kirby plans to take delivery of seven of the tank barges in 2003 and nine in the first half of 2004. The total purchase price of the 16 barges is approximately $29 million, with an estimated $12.6 million to be expended in 2003 and $16.4 million in 2004. Under the terms of the contract

Boat of the Month: Great Lakes Shipyard Goes Global

The Great Lakes Shipyard recently started manufacturing tugboats and barges in its new state-of-the-art shipyard facility in Cleveland, Ohio.  The first tugboat to be constructed in a U.S. domestic shipyard on the Great Lakes for foreign buyers was sold to Electrica S.A. of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  When delivered to Honduras in September 2008, the tug will be used in the Port of Puerto Cores, a principal port located on the north coast of Honduras at the beginning of the Pan

Signet America Launched

On October 29, 2007, the first of class Signet America, a new AZ-30/80 Class tug, was launched at J. M. Martinac Shipbuilders in Tacoma,Wash. The new tug is scheduled to be delivered to its owners, Signet Maritime Corporation of Houston in 2008. Signet America is the first of this new class of ship-handling/escort tug, and was developed by Robert Allan Ltd., Naval Architects of Vancouver, B.C., to suit the unique operational requirements of this owner and the physical restrictions (primarily

Robert Allan’s Turkish Tug Connection

For more than fifteen years Robert Allan Ltd. has had tugs built to their designs by a cadre of Turkish shipyards. In that 15 years there has been almost one new tug delivery every month to a Robert Allan Ltd. design in Turkey. To date more than 150 tugs have been Turkish-built, and even in a slightly reduced market this year, compared to the heady days of 2008–2009, there are at least 15 Robert Allan Ltd. designs under construction there today. Robert Allan Ltd

Sea Tow Expands SeaSmart

Sea Tow Services International Inc., announced the expansion of its Sea Smart VHF service offering. Sea Smart VHF will be available throughout Florida’s Southeast coast, from Jupiter Inlet to Islamorada. The service is already available throughout the West Coast of Florida and in the Northeast from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape May, N.J. Thecommunications service, launched at the 2006 Miami International Boat Show, utilizes boaters’ existing equipment to provide an application for

Atlantic Towing Expands Fleet

St. John’s NL - Atlantic Towing Limited (ATL), a global marine service provider based in Atlantic Canada, has announced the addition of the Atlantic Raven – a 14,400 hp UT 722 Offshore Supply Vessel. The Raven is the second offshore supply vessel to be added to the ATL fleet this year. The 75m x 18m vessel, with four diesel engines and an oil recovery system will further support ATL’s existing and future contracts for customers in the offshore exploration and production

Bruno Appointed Chairman of Marine Board, NRC

Dr. Michael Bruno, Dean of the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science at Stevens Institute of Technology, has been selected as Chairman of the Marine Board, under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board ( TRB ) and the National Research Council (NRC). The Marine Board identifies and responds to critical issues in the area of water transportation, port engineering and management, marine policy, offshore development and operations, naval architecture, and maritime economics

A Good Hull Deserves a Good Rebuild

British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast, has some attractive and well-proven tugs, but the fleet is aging with many vessels over thirty years old. Four years ago Vancouver’s Island Tug and Barge (www.islandtug.com) launched the new build Island Scout with a pair of Cummins KTA38 main engines. This August, they will return their 1977-built 21 x 7.3-m tug Island Defender to service. The midlife rebuild has taken a year to complete but as Island Tug’s president Bob Shields

Miko ShipArrestor Featured at Innovation Convention

The ShipArrestor system invented by Miko Marine AS of Oslo has been chosen as one of 50 exhibits at the first European Innovation Convention being held in Brussels on 5-6 December.   The ShipArrestor was chosen from among 1200 projects funded by the European Union as it may be used to defend coastlines against the huge environmental damage that can be caused when a drifting oil tanker runs aground. A consortium of eight European organisations was created to develop the ShipArrestor idea