Vincent D. Tibbetts Jr., president of Boston Towing & Transportation, the Boston division of the Reinauer Companies, announced that Boston Towing and Transportation Company has been awarded a significant 20 year contract by Suez Energy N.A. LLC to support their Neptune
Offshore LNG Terminal. This contract includes the construction and operation of two additional vessels, a 128 foot, 5400 hp, controllable pitch Z Drive, FiFi 1 Offshore
Support Vessel based in Gloucester, Ma, as well as a smaller 101foot, 5400hp, controllable pitch Z Drive, FiFi 1 tug that will operate in the harbor, as well as acting as backup to the larger offshore vessel. This will increase BTT’s fleet to four tractor tugs in addition to eight other conventional tugs.
BTT has contracted with Robert Allan LTD of Vancouver B.C. to design both vessels. Robert Allan currently has over 80 of his tugs being built worldwide and is considered by many to be the most innovative tug designer in the world. The offshore vessel incorporates his latest hull design, developed for the Marin study last winter, which will optimize sea-keeping, fuel efficiency and crew comfort. The smaller tug is a proven design of his, of which there are numerous examples currently being used around the world at offshore platforms.
These tugs will be the first in the U.S. to incorporate controllable pitch propellers with the Z Drives. This gives the vessels an infinite degree of maneuverability, and also allows the FiFi Class One fire pumps to be driven off the main engines, saving weight and cost by eliminating the fire pump engines found on all other FiFi Class One vessels. Both tugs will be equipped with bow and stern winches and will be capable of remaining on station throughout all LNG discharge operations. The larger tug will be able to self-load up to three containers for cargo operations, while the smaller tug will be rigged to handle one container.