DUNLAP TOWING

One Out ... Two In

When Dunlap Towing of LaConner, Wash., bought the James T. Quig a couple of years ago, they renamed her the Rosario. Now the good tug is getting a lot more than a name change. The boat, built in the late 1970s or early '80's, originally had a single engine installed but she had been designed with enough beam for a twin engine installation. She has been operated with a single 900 hp main but now she will get two Cummins KTA38 main engines to be operated at 800 hp each to nearly double the boat's output to 1,600 hp. The beamy 64 x 21-ft. boat can easily handle the two engines. With the beam carried well aft, Dunlap's operations manager Gordon Taylor explains there is lots of space in the lazarette to accommodate the working rams for the twin rudders that will be added behind the two new 70-in. diameter five-blade propellers. The props will be mounted on 6.5-in. shafts coupled to Twin Disc, TD5205, 6:1 ratio gears on the main engines. Calculations show the repowered boat doubling its bollard pull to about 37,000 pounds. The weight of the engines, shafts and gears will also be double that of the single engine, but Taylor doesn't expect more than a couple of inches increase in the draft on her nine-ft. molded depth hull. Work on the conversion will take place at Dunlap's Everett, Washington facility and at the nearby Hansen Boat Company shipyard this October and November

Kulluk Due 'Piggy-back' Ride to Asian Shipyard

Owners Shell confirm that 'Kulluk' safe to tow from Kiluda Bay to Dutch Harbor & await arrival of heavy-lift semi submersible vessel for the 'dry tow'. The Unified Command has been stood down. “Agency representatives will return to their normal roles and responsibilities," said Capt. Paul Mehler III, the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator. “The Coast Guard will continue to monitor the activities involved in prepping the Kulluk for movement and I will lift the

USCG Issues Fire Protection Equipment Requirements

All towing vessels except those in restricted services are required to comply with new requirements for fire protection equipment and procedures under an interim rule issued by the USCG. The rule is the first step in a two-pronged approach to implementing the requirements of the 1996 USCG Authorization Act, which directed the USCG to promulgate regulations requiring fire suppression systems or other measures to control fires on towing vessels.

McAllister Adds Associate To Ocean Towing Division

Rachel Smith has joined McAllister Towing as a sales associate in the company's ocean towing division. Smith, who previously was with Smith Maritime, will draw upon her extensive experience in contract towing, marketing McAllister tugs and barges on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, as well as the Caribbean to South America.

Towing Safety Committee to Meet

TSAC – meeting Two working groups of the Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC), sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, will meet in Arlington, Virginia to discuss issues related to towing vessel safety. The Regulatory Review Working Group will meet on April 27 to discuss travel time for towing vessel officers. The Maritime Security Working Group will meet on April 28 to discuss implementation of security plan regulations and development of timely feedback to the Coast Guard. 69 Fed

CG Reopens Intracoastal Waterway

The Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur reopened the Intracoastal Waterway after the towing vessel Caroline was refloated Monday. The waterway was closed following a collision between the towing vessel Caroline and the towing vessel Miss Stacie at mile marker 312 on the Intracoastal Waterway early this morning.  No injuries were sustained during the collision. A Unified Command comprised of Canal Barge Company, Texas General Land Office

Sea Tow Reports High Activity Levels

Sea Tow Services International Inc., released their statistics this morning on the company’s activity level for the Memorial Day weekend. Capt. Joseph Frohnhoefer III, Sea Tow’s vice president of operations credits the spike in boating activity to the beautiful weather conditions throughout the country, particularly in the Northeast where Memorial Day has come to mark the beginning of the boating season. “There was a significant amount of activity this weekend

New Marine Hydrawrap Distributor

HydraTech Engineered Products of Cincinnati, Ohio has selected the Great Lakes Group and Puerto Rico Towing as exclusive distributors of Marine HydraWrap. The Great Lakes Group, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates a full service shipyard and specializes in all types of marine repair services. Puerto Rico Towing and Barge Company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico provides towing services and vessel assistance to commercial vessels and barges throughout the Caribbean

Dutch Invention Prevents Towline Failure on Tugboats

The Rotterdam based shipping company Rotortug and ASD Ship Design from Alblasserdam have invented a revolutionary tugboat technology (‘tugnology’) to prevent towline failures from chafing against a tugboats fixed towing point. Conventional towing point designs are usually fixed bitts fitted with polished and stainless steel cladding in line contact areas guiding a towline to a towing winch. Using state of the art towing winches

JK Fabrication’s Emergency Towing Reel

You’ve got an emergency towing wire. Of course you do. It’s rusted beyond belief, probably retired from primary service two years ago when it developed that kink and those nasty fishhooks. And, it’s deployed where it should be; out on deck, in the open and exposed to the elements. Will it perform when you need it most? Probably not. It doesn’t have to be that way. According to JK Fabrication, the current system of storing wire on a front splash plate insures that the