Matriarch News

Off the coast of Spain and Portugal, killer whales have been biting boats. And the famous beluga whale nicknamed “Hvaldimir” has popped up again – this time in Sweden. When first spotted in Norway in 2019, wearing a suspicious harness, some suggested he could be a Russian spy.These unusual human-wildlife interactions raise questions about managing risk. Both situations present a maritime safety concern. And the whales are at risk of being injured or killed by the boat.What’s more…

MarineNews showcases the ten best of North America’s 2018 workboat deliveries. Domestic shipyard production is robust, innovative and getting greener. And, that translates into two kinds of ‘green.’As the domestic offshore energy support sector slowly awakens, other sectors have been happy to take the spotlight in its absence. As always, and if a hull was delivered in 2018, we took a look at it, with several areas as a focus for inclusion into this edition. For my part, I’m always excited when the U.S. boatbuilding sector can deliver for a foreign buyer. We’ve checked that box here. And, that’s because we can compete on price, quality and when we do…

There's nothing like New York City for a maritime event, and McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc., one of the historic family-run companies serving the industry for more than 150 years, held a signature ceremony and party last night at Pier 16 in Manhattan with the christening of two tugboats, the Rosemary McAllister and the Capt. Brian A. McAllister, both ABS classed FiFi 1 with propulsion systems meeting EPA Tier 4 emission regulations: 3516E Tier IV Caterpillar engines…

McAllister Towing has taken delivery of Rosemary McAllister, the second in a series of four 100’ x 40’, 80 metric ton bollard pull tugboats. The new vessel, the 32nd tractor tug in McAllister’s fleet, was completed at Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, Fla.The Rosemary is powered by 3516E Tier IV Caterpillar engines with twin Schottel SRP4000FP units. Packed into her 100’ x 40’ hull is 6,770 horsepower. She has already exceeded expectations as she achieved 82.75 metric tons during her ABS bollard pull certification. The Rosemary joins her sister vessel, the Capt. Brian A.

They say Navy is like one big family but when it comes to three people in the west it’s more a case of a family within a family. Lieutenant Commander David Sutherland, (Deputy Officer-In-Charge Fleet Logistic Support Element – Submarines) and his sons Commander Daniel Sutherland (Commanding Officer, submarine HMAS Dechaineux) and Chaplain James Sutherland (HMAS Stirling) are all proud Navy officers based in Western Australia. But the family’s involvement with Navy doesn’t stop at the three Sutherland men, with matriarch, Mrs Frances Sutherland having senior service history also. Lieutenant Commander Sutherland first joined the Navy as a Junior Recruit in 1974…

Foss Maritime, founded by the matriarch of the Foss family in 1889, is as much a cultural icon on the U.S. West Coast as McAllister or Moran are on the East Coast. Norwegian immigrant Thea Foss began the business when she bought her first row boat in Tacoma, Wash. and painted it the signature green and white. The Foss family grew the business into a launch  service ferrying crew and supplies in the 1910s, then shifted into towing work in the 1940s. Thea Foss is considered the inspiration for Tug Boat Annie…

Capt. Fred Kosnac was the first tugboater I ever met. If a career can be considered in spiritual or symbolic or abstract terms to be "a life," then Fred Kosnac would rightly be called the patriarch of mine, as a writer and photographer and admirer of tugboaters and tugboats. The matriarch was of course a tugboat proper, the Hay-De, which Capt. Kosnac, based on a phone call out of the blue in 1980, made available to a curious and impressed young journalist. You mean something that works so hard, and has been at it since 1887, is still intact?