Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., with the Riverway Co., Eden Prairie, Minn., christened the M/V Bootsie B., a 188-ft. (57.3 m), 8,000 hp towboat. Bootsie B. is the first such vessel for the Riverway Co., in 25 years. It was christened by Ms. Mary Sutton Becker, granddaughter of Mrs. Mary Sutton "Bootsie" Baskerville, whose family
established Riverway's predecessor company, the Upper Mississippi Towing Corp. in 1937. Lawson and Lawson will operate the vessel
"This is our first new construction project for Riverway," said Walter Berry, executive vice president and COO of Bollinger said.
Bollinger Northshore Engineering designed the vessel, and Corning Townsend, with C.T. Marine, provided naval architectural services for proper water flow through the kort nozzle and across the rudders. This included design of propellers, kort nozzles, rudders, and overall vessel review, and Berry stressed that this was not a re-work of an old design.
Bootsie B. measures 188 x 48 x 11.5 ft. (57.3 x 14.6 x 3.5 m), with a minimum draft of 8.5 ft. (2.6 m). It is powered by a pair of EMD 16-710G7B-diesel engines developing a total of 8,000 hp and 196,000 lbs. of Bollard pull. Bollinger manufactured shafts with John Crane seals drive two Bollinger 122 in. by 138 in., five-blade propellers installed in Harrington CT28 nozzles. Lufkin provided RH53624 horizontal offset reverse/reduction gears with a ratio of 4.9:1, and Fernstrum grid coolers cool the engines.
Bollinger independent steering and flanking rudders with electronic synchronization are installed to act in a conventional jockey bar configuration. Electrical power is supplied by two 190 KW generators, each driven by a Caterpillar 3306 diesel engine. Bollinger also manufactured the tiller arms and underwater spares.
The boat carries 140,500 gallons of fuel, 6,150 gallons of oil, 33,300 gallons of fresh water, 104,000 gallons of ballast water and 540 gallons each of hydraulic and gear oil.
Deck equipment includes six Patterson 65 winches; Schoellhorn-Albrecht 10 hp-two speed capstans; 14, 48-in.
Nabrico kevels; 10 Blackburn roller chocks; two six-in. button chocks and 18 x 24 in. bolted watertight manholes; and 18 in. quarter turn flush manholes. The deckhouse is mounted on vibration isolators for greater crew comfort and equipment longevity. Quarters are provided for a crew of 12 and two guests, with a galley and dining facilities. Carrier air conditioning cools and heats the pilothouse, galley and dining areas. A partial list of equipment in the wheelhouse includes: two Furuno radars; a Furuno color depth sounder; a DeHart gyro; a GPS receiver; a Pinpoint River Pro Charting system; two Icom VHF radios with handsets; a Sea-Hail loudhailer; and two Watercom cellular communications systems.