Tugboats

Panama Canal Authority Acquires New Tugs

Panama President Mireya Moscoso welcomed two new tugboats to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) fleet, both purchased at a cost of $10,768,794. The new units, named Herrera and Los Santos, are made of state-of-the-art technology, and include emergency response equipment and improved operational facilities. Canal Administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta stated: “ The addition of two tugboats, Herrera and Los Santos, are part of the Canal’s permanent modernization program geared towards providing our customers with the best service for their transit through the Canal. High- quality customer service is our first priority and these new tugboats are another example of this commitment. This equipment, to be operated by the Transit Resources Division, is made of steel and has a Schottel system for stern azimuthal propulsion. Each features a 4,400-horsepower Deutz engine, with specifications that allow the ACP to provide a better quality in transit services offered to customers. The tugboats consist of floating equipment that assist ships during their transit through the Panama Canal, mainly in the entrances and exits of the locks and during their journey through Culebra Cut, where maneuverability and power are required. Both tugboats received the traditional splash of champagne from their patrons: Captain Vielka Domínguez, inaugurated tugboat Los Santos; and Panama President Moscoso inaugurated tugboat Herrera.

CBMM Opens New Tugboat Exhibit April 21

“Push and Pull: Life on Chesapeake Tugboats,” opens as a new exhibit on Saturday, April 21 in the Steamboat Building of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM) in St. Michaels, MD.      The Chesapeake is a highway for tugs and barges, and for the large ships aided by tugs in port. The exhibit explores the lives of the men and women who work on these tugboats and the variety of ways tugs are used around the Chesapeake

Young Brothers to Invest $186m

Young Brothers Ltd. announced it will spend $186 million over 10 years on a new fleet of barges, tugboats, shipping containers, lifts and other equipment. The 106-year-old company is Hawaii’s largest interisland cargo line. The company's first new barge, a car-carrying roll-on/roll-off barge that can transport 500 vehicles, is scheduled for delivery late this year, sources said. The vessel, which is enclosed to protect cars from sea spray and salt air

Nautica to Build Two Tugs

Nautica Nova Shipbuilding and Engineering Sdn Bhd has signed a contract to build two tugboats for Multraship Towage & Salvage, a Dutch salvage and towage company. Managing director Chuah Chuan Yong said the company would deliver the first 108.2 ft. tugboat at end-2007. Nautica, which operates on a 13-acre site near Sungai Prai, employs 140 skilled workers, of whom 10% are engineers. (Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my)

Crew of Stuck Vessel Doing Well

According to Focus News, the Bulgarian crew onboard the Katya Z ship are well and expect help from the tugboat Belarus after the Katya Z became stuck in the ice. Two tugboats were sent earlier to help the stuck ship, but there was no result because of their low power. There are 14 Bulgarians and four Ukrainian citizens on board the ship. The area in which the ship has stuck freezes often and there have been similar incidents before. (Source: Focus News)

Tugboat Pilot Plan May Have Backfired

According to a July 14 Associated Press report, a federal program to recruit more tugboat pilots may have backfired by allowing thousands of novice captains to take the helm, contributing to a 25 percent increase in the number of accidents on the nation's rivers. An Associated Press review of Coast Guard records indicates that the U.S. tugboat fleet is increasingly piloted by captains who have spent as little as one year in the wheelhouse.

Colle Towing Take Delivery of Marine Travelift

The family run business of Colle Towing Inc, who operate tugboats on the Pascagoula River, recently took delivery of its second Marine Travelift a new 600C boat hoist. The acquisition of the 600C machine means that Colle Towing will no longer have to operate a dry dock, which is much less efficient than the Marine Travelift operation. This is the second 600C boat hoist, which has been sold by Marine Travelift's dealer, H &E Equipment Services of Louisiana.

Great Lakes Towing Frees Stranded Freighter

Great Lakes Towing Company tugboats 'Wyoming' & 'Idaho' free the grounded freighter 'Spruceglen' in Lake St. Claire. The Great Lakes Towing Company, which celebrates 115 years of service this year, provides tugboat and towing services, ship assist, logistics and cargo transportation, ice breaking, and emergency assistance of every kind of vessel, barge, and marine structure in 40 U.S. Great Lakes ports located on all five Great Lakes and in all eight U.S. Great Lakes States. 

ASA Respond to Suken Tugboat

Two members of the American Salvage Association (ASA) salvaged a sunken tugboat in Port Arthur, Texas on December 31, 2007. The 600-ton capacity derrick barge, owned by one ASA member, and another 700-ton capacity derrick barge, owned by another ASA member were used to make a tandem lift of the 105-foot sunken tugboat. The two companies initially responded to the sunken vessel with a salvage support barge used for diving survey and rigging operations

Tugboat Sinks at Duwamish River

A 101-foot tugboat sank at its moorage off the mouth of the Duwamish River and nearly dragged down a second tug, the AP reported. The cause of the sinking of the tug island Brave was unknown. More than 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel in the tugboat's tanks leaked before company divers sealed the fuel tanks. The amount that escaped was undetermined but appeared to be small and was contained by booms. Someone driving over the Spokane Street Bridge notified the company about 11 a.m