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Frank Basile News

20 Apr 2021

Vane Brothers Adds New Tug Cape Henry

Vane Brothers’ newest, 3,000-horespower model bow tugboat, the Cape Henry. (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers said it has taken delivery of its new 3,000-horsepower model bow tug Cape Henry from Chesapeake Shipbuilding.Cape Henry is a true sister tug of the Cape Fear, which was delivered to Van Brothers in October 2020. Both model bow tugs are primarily tasked with towing petroleum barges engaged in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coastwise trade.Featuring a design by the late Frank Basile, P.E., of Entech Designs, LLC, the Cape Henry measures 94 feet long and 32 feet wide with a hull depth of 13 feet.

16 Nov 2020

Vane Brothers Takes Delivery of New Tug Cape Fear

Cape Fear (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers said it has taken delivery of the 3,000-horsepower Cape Fear, the 17th Maryland-built tugboat to join the Baltimore-based marine transportation provider’s fleet.Since 2008, 15 3,000-horsepower, model-bow tugboats have been delivered to Vane Brothers by Chesapeake Shipbuilding and Naval Architects of Salisbury, Md. Chesapeake has also constructed two 3,000-horsepower push boats for Vane.“The 3,000-horsepower tug is powerful, practical and a perfect fit for Vane’s harbor and coastwise towing operations,” says Vane Brothers President C. Duff Hughes.

20 Nov 2019

Putting Palatka Back on the Map

SJSB President and Owner, Steven Ganoe

Diverse and conveniently located, St. Johns Ship Building has quickly developed into a reliable partner for its many repeat customers. Today, and as a direct result, a lot more people know exactly where Palatka, Florida is located.On the St Johns River, just 60 miles south of Jacksonville, lies the sleepy town of Palatka, Florida. Founded as a trading post in 1821, its location on the highly navigable river made the area attractive to orange growers and timber men alike.In its heyday between 1875 and 1900…

03 Mar 2017

New Tug for Vane Brothers

Fishing Creek (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers has taken delivery of the 3,000‐horsepower Fishing Creek, the 13th Maryland-built tugboat to join the Baltimore-based company’s expanding fleet in the last 10 years. Designed by Frank Basile, P.E., of Entech Designs, LLC, Fishing Creek is the latest of 20 Sassafras Class tugboats contracted through Chesapeake Shipbuilding of Salisbury, Md. Construction began in 2007 on the first-in‐series tugboat Sassafras, which, when delivered to Vane Brothers in 2008, was considered…

12 Jan 2017

New Tug Delivered to Vane Brothers

Delaware (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Marine transportation provider Vane Brothers has taken delivery of the newly built tugboat Delaware, the fourth of eight vessels in Vane’s Elizabeth Anne Class of 4,200-horsepower tugs contracted through St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla. Designed by Frank Basile, P.E., of Entech Designs, LLC, the Delaware is a steel-hulled, model bow tug measuring 100 feet long with a 34-foot beam and 13-foot draught. She utilizes two Caterpillar 3516 Tier 3 (“A” Rated) engines, each generating 2,100 horsepower at 1,600 rpm.

30 Sep 2016

Vane Brothers’ New Tug Baltimore Enters Service

Baltimore (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers said it has taken delivery of its newest tugboat, Baltimore, named for the city in which the marine transportation provider is headquartered. The Baltimore is the third of eight vessels in Vane’s Elizabeth Anne Class of 4,200-horsepower tugboats contracted through St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla. The fourth in the series, the Delaware, is scheduled for completion this fall. Vane Brothers President C. Duff Hughes said, “Our partnership with St. The Baltimore is the 30th vessel completed for Vane Brothers under the supervision of Senior Port Captain Jim Demske…

15 Aug 2016

Fort McHenry: Vane Brothers New 3,000hp Tug

Vane Brothers Ft McHenry at Ft McHenry. (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers is hailing the newest addition to its fleet: the Fort McHenry, a state-of-the-art, 3,000-horsepower tugboat named in honor of the historic landmark that can be seen from the company’s Baltimore, Maryland, headquarters. Designed by Frank Basile, P.E., of Entech Designs, LLC, the Fort McHenry is the most recent of 12 “Sassafras Class” tugboats delivered to Vane since 2008 by Chesapeake Shipbuilding of Salisbury, Maryland. Measuring 94 feet long and 32 feet wide with a hull depth of 13 feet…

13 May 2016

Vane Bros. Continues Fleet Expansion

Hudson (Photo: Vane Brothers)

Vane Brothers, a marine transportation provider headquartered in Baltimore, has added two vessels to its fleet: the 4,200-horsepower tugboat Hudson and 55,000‐barrel barge Double Skin 601. The Hudson is the second of eight vessels in Vane’s Elizabeth Anne Class of 4,200‐horsepower tugboats contracted through St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla. The Elizabeth Anne was delivered in January, while the third in the series, the Baltimore, is scheduled for completion this summer.

01 Feb 2016

Driving the Inland Waterways

Propulsion evolves, improves and powers forward in the inland markets. And, Z-Drive propulsion is the future. In a white paper released late in 2014 by The Shearer Group, Ed Shearer and Greg Beers outlined The Next Generation of inland vessels, what will drive design changes and the advantages of azimuthing stern drives – or ‘Z-Drives,’ for short. The authors point out that, until recently, towboats on all the inland waterways and Gulf Coast have traditionally been built using main engines connected to reduction gearboxes connected to long drive shafts passing through the towboat hull. In a nutshell, according The Shearer Group, the advantages of using z-Drives on inland towboats include decreased installation time…

29 Jan 2016

New Tug Delivered to Vane Brothers

Photo: Vane Brothers Company

The Vane Brothers Company, a marine transportation provider headquartered in Baltimore, Md., has taken delivery of the Elizabeth Anne, the first in a new series of 4,200-horsepower tugboats. Vane Brothers has ordered a total of eight Elizabeth Anne Class towing vessels through St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Fla., with the second in the series, the Hudson, scheduled for delivery this spring. According to Vane Brothers President C. Duff Hughes, “The 4,200-horsepower Elizabeth Anne Class tugboat is the ultimate workhorse, bringing exceptional power and performance to Vane’s growing fleet.

04 Dec 2015

Fourth & Fifth Z-drive Towboat from Master Marine

In August and September respectively, Marquette Transportation Co. took delivery of the fourth and fifth 2,000-hp Z-drive towboat from Master Marine, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala. The 78 x 34 x11-ft. St. Peter was designed by Frank Basile of Entech & Associates, Houma, La., for Marquette’s Gulf-Inland division, based in Harahan, La. Master Marine is continuing to build Z-Drive towboats, with more underway for Marquette, said the yard’s president Randy Orr. The steel-hulled St. Peter is powered by a pair of Thompson Power Systems Caterpillar C32 Tier 3 1…

20 Aug 2015

Fourth Z-drive Towboat from Master Marine

St. Peter (Photo: Master Marine)

The Z-drive revolution on the U.S. In August, Marquette Transportation Co. took delivery of a new 2,000-hp Z-drive towboat from Master Marine, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The 78 x 34 x 11 ft. St. Peter was designed by Frank Basile of Entech & Associates, Houma, La., for Marquette’s Gulf-Inland division, based in Harahan, La. Master Marine is continuing to build Z-drive towboats, with more underway for Marquette, said the yard’s president Randy Orr. The company has continued to expand its workforce and production capabilities to handle the increasing demands of its customers.

25 Mar 2010

St. Johns Ship Building Landing Craft Contract

Photo courtesy St. Johns Ship Building, Inc.

St. Johns Ship Building, Inc was awarded contract to construct a 190-ft Landing Craft for G & G Shipping out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. This will be the fifth vessel of its fleet which joins others built by St. Johns. The vessel designed by Frank Basile of Entech and Associates, Inc. Houma, La. The Landing Craft will be equipped with twin CAT 3412 Engines approx 720 hp each and have an open deck space of 6,600 sq ft with capacity to carry 600 Tons roll on roll off cargo. Its’ shallow draft and ramped bow allows for easy access to unimproved beaches and shores.

22 May 2008

Mariner Delivers ABS Classed Ocean-Going Tug

Mariner, LLC has just delivered a new 88-ft. fully ABS classed ocean-going tug. This is the second 88-ft. tugboat built for Smith Marine Towing, Similar equipment to the first vessel but the owner decided to increase horsepower with this vessel with Caterpillar 3512’s rated 1500 hp each. Pushing 4 blade Rolls-Royce stainless propellers through Kort nozzles this vessel has a calculated bollard pull of 45 tons. Lights gensets and the Markey double drum winch is powered by a John Deere engine.

11 Dec 2007

Lockport Finishes Third in Series

Supreme Servics Inc. is expecting delivery of the third in a series of Frank Basile designed utility vessels. All three vessels are from Richard Adams Sr. and son Dickie Adams’ Lockport Fabrication. The first, the Betha G, was delivered in March 2006 with a second, the Warren Thomas, in early 2007. The third vessel, the Penny F, will deliver in early 2008. All three vessels are 166 by 36 ft. and powered by a pair of Cummins KTA38-M0 main engines generating 850 hp at 1800 rpm. A pair of Cummins 6CTA8.3-powered 99 kW generator sets provide electrical service.

16 May 2007

Launch Day in Bourg, La.

Joey Portier, yard manager at Intercoastal Iron Works, recently sent this photo of the splashy launch that they had for Lebeouf Brothers Towing's latest push boat. As in others built to the Frank Basile design, this 72 x 32-ft. push boat is powered by twin Cummins KTA38 M1 main engines rated at 1,000 hp each. At Intracoastal Ironworks Joey Portier manages the yard for owner Raymond Viguerie. The yard delivered one of the Basile-designed 72-footers, the Katie Gronsulin, to Lebeouf Brothers Towing in the fall of 2006. They launched this one in early May and will deliver shortly. In line behind the Richard Gonsoulin II are orders for at least one more for Lebeouf and then two for Higman Marine.

12 Jan 2007

Thoma-Sea Tug For Penn ATB

Thoma-Sea Boatbuilders in Lockport La., is building an Entech-designed tug for Penn Maritime’s latest ATB. The 4000-horsepower 116 x 36-ft. tug will be mated to a 14,000-ton 90,000-barrel barge currently building at Corn Island Shipyard in Indiana. The coupling will be a JAK-400 model pin and socket system with eight sockets in each wing of the barge notch to accommodate varying drafts of the barge. The pneumatically operated pins are 16 inches in diameter. Frank Basile explains that the tug design has evolved from earlier designs that he has done of a similar size but this is the first configured as an ATB. The hull, with a molded depth of 17 feet…

10 Feb 2003

Cheramie & Sons Anticipate New Tug

The Lafayette, La.-based Rene’ J. Cheramie & Sons, has a 116’ x 34’ x 17’ ocean tugboat under construction at Main Iron Works of Houma, La. The new towing vessel, powered by twin 3516B HD Caterpillar diesels will be named ANN T. CHERAMIE. The vessel underwent plating in December and is expected to be delivered in July. tugboat built by Main Iron Works for the Cheramie company. and equipped with a Markey double drum towing winch on the stern deck for ocean towing”. ANN T. CHERAMIE will be the third tugboat designed by Basile for the Cheramie company.

23 Jul 2003

News: Thoma-Sea Builds New Z-Drive

Cummins Marine's recently introduced QSK60 engines are finding a ready market in the 2,000 hp plus range in both Europe and North America. This spring the sale of two more QSK60s was announced for a Z-drive tug building at Thoma-Sea Boatbuilders in Houma, La. Designed by well-know Louisiana-based naval architect Frank Basile's Entech and Associates Inc., the 104 by 36-ft. boat will have a 17-ft. molded depth. Tankage provides for over 90,000 gallons of fuel, 10,000 gallons of potable water and 500 gallons of lube oil. The two Cummins QSK60 main engines will each produce 2,200 continuous-duty hp at 1,800 rpm. The engines will drive Rolls-Royce US 205 Z-drives. The drives have 2150 m/m propellers in nozzles. Ship power will be provided by two Cummins 6BT5.9 powered 75 kW generator sets.

08 Jan 2007

Lockport Builds Triple Screw Model Bow Tug

Dickie Adams’ at Lockport Fabrication has a triple screw model bow tug building for Russell Plaisance of Galliano Louisiana. Powered by three six-cylinder Cummins KTA19 engines the boat is being built to a Frank Basile (Entech and Associates Inc.) design. While a triple engine and triple screw configuration is a common method of maintaining a shallow draft, this boat is interesting in that only the middle propeller is fitted with a kort nozzles while the two outside props will be open. Basle explains that he has had vessels built to this design with two Cummins KTA38s for main engines but since this owner will be using the boat to service near shore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico the triple engine installation will deliver a similar bollard pull with a shallower draft. The 84 x 27-ft.