Marine News' Top Vessels of 2022
The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted the most notable newbuilds delivered in 2022. From sturdy and nimble workboats, to the first new Jones Act laker in a generation, each vessel on display showcases the industry’s engineering prowess and technological ingenuity, with the focus on improving efficiency in operations. The maritime industry has no shortage of challenges to overcome, and each of Marine News’ top vessels will, in one way or another, aid efforts to tackle them.Mark W.
Blount Delivers Buoy Tender/icebreaker to Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Warren, R.I. shipbuilder Blount Boats announced it has delivered a new buoy tender/ice breaker built for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.Eddie Somers was handed over on May 19 at Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, Md. The 94- by 227-foot shallow draft vessel will replace the J. Milliard Tawes, which has been in service for nearly 50 years.Designed by BMT Designers and Planners, the Eddie Somers is powered by Cummins QSK19, Tier III marine engines, each producing 750HP at 1,800RPM, Twin Disc MGX-5202SC marine generator sets and, two 42x27, 5 blade NIBRAL propellers.
Fishing Boat Design: New Crab Boat from Gaspé Yard
With the regulated catch quotas of contemporary fisheries, design versatility for a fishing boat can be important. A new 19.8 x 7.3-m (65 x 24-ft.) combination crab trap and groundfish trawler designed by NAVANEX for building by Chantier Naval Forillon, both of Gaspé, Quebec, Canada is a fine example of this. Owners, Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government, anticipate accepting delivery in April of 2022.The steel-hulled vessel will have a raised fo’c’sle design with an aluminum pilot house. When crab fishing, the clear, aft deck will be capable of carrying up to 150 collapsible, 100-pound crab pots.
Westfleet Seafoods to Add New Longliner
New Zealand’s Westfleet Seafoods, based in Greymouth, has earned an international reputation for quality and sustainability. While their fleet includes some mid-water trawlers, their preferred method of catching is longline. This method is noted for the quality and selectivity of the catch.The company’s current fleet includes five vessels, two of which are modern longliners. The success of these vessels has prompted the firm to order an additional longliner for delivery in early 2022.
New LNG ATB Bunker Vessel is a US First
Bunkering ports around the world have long used a variety of small tankers or tug and barge combinations to deliver fuel to visiting ships. Mostly this was heavy oil, but recently a new breed of bunkering vessels is emerging to deliver clean burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) to modern ships with dual-fuel capabilities.The fall of 2020 will see a new addition to this fleet servicing ships in Florida and the Caribbean. As an articulated tug barge (ATB) combination, the vessel will have a cargo capacity of 4,000 cubic meters of LNG.
EPA Tier 4: Difficult and Contentious, 12 Years and Counting
When it comes to complying with EPA’s Tier 4 emissions regulations, there’s no shortage of creativity emerging from America’s maritime engineering firms. Companies such as Hug Engineering are offering flexible, customized aftertreatment-based control systems that can assemble almost in modular like fashion. Other companies, such as ABB Group, offer battery-hybrid power sources to complement combustion power and avoid threshold diesel emissions. Engine manufacturers, such as Cummins…
Repower of the Tug Gretchen H
As sometimes happens with boats in the maritime world, the recent repower of a tug shone a light on a pair of well known independent companies. The tug Gretchen H. (ex Harry Olsen, Polar Breeze) was built by Rodriguez Shipbuilding of Coden Alabama in 1997 and is currently owned, since 2005, by Boyer Towing.The Gretchen H is a good solid boat and her owners decided she was well worth a new set of engines. At 80 by 30 feet she has an eleven foot depth. As with many tugs out of the Rodriguez yard she has triple propellers and triple engines. She had an older set of engines rated at 700 HP each.
Putting Palatka Back on the Map
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…
New Catamaran for Bar Harbor Whale Watch
A newly built multi-functional 30m catamaran passenger vessel, Coastal Explorer, has been delivered for a whale watching excursion operator in Bar Harbor, Maine.Built by Gulf Craft in Franklin, La., the vessel closely follows two predecessors delivered in 2018, Acadia Explorer and Schoodic Explorer and brings the operator’s number of Incat-Crowther-designed vessels to five total.Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co will use the USCG Subchapter T certified vessel for whale watching excursions…
Cummins Tech for IMO Tier III
Cummins Inc. revealed today the company’s solution for the impending start of International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier III emission regulations, using proven Tier II engine technology and adding a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system. A unique feature will allow the ship’s crew to manually “pause” the SCR system whenever operating outside of a controlled emission area, thus reducing DEF usage and expenses for a lower cost of operation.The dual-tier strategy has another significant benefit…
Odyssey III: Refurbish and Re-engine on the Potomac
There are many fine and elegant places to dine in Washington DC, but few offer the comfort and opulence to match the M/V Odyssey III. Her sleek, low profile superstructure designed to pass under the Potomac River bridges contains enough space to provide all the essentials of a grand evening. Cocktails, dinner, dancing and perhaps most importantly, the beauty and romance of watching the city lights from the deck of a boat on the serene river surface.At 240 by 63-feet the Odyssey…
New Power for Alaskan Classic
Thousands of people travel Alaska on mega-cruise ships each year, but only a handful get to cruise Alaskan waters on the immaculate M/V LISERON. Built in Seattle in 1952 by the US Navy as a minesweeper she was sold to France, but returned to Seattle in 1990 after being lovingly converted to yacht-class in Florida.The late Michael Allan McIntosh, philanthropist and environmentalist, founded The Boat Company in 1979, initially as a program of The McIntosh Foundation. The LISERON joined The Boat Company’s first vessel…
MIW to Build Special Purpose Tour Boat
Moran Iron Works, Inc. (MIW) signed a contract with Pictured Rocks Kayaking (PRK) to build a specialized passenger tour vessel. Together, and in conjunction with DLBA (a division of Gibbs & Cox, Inc.), they are creating a special purpose tour boat that is first of its kind in the Great Lakes region.The 64’ by 19’ vessel will be constructed out of aluminum at Moran Iron Works’ headquarters in Onaway, Michigan. The purpose of this particular unnamed vessel is to escort 72 passengers and 36 kayaks around Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore for guided kayak tours.
Nordic Lady: Keeping a Good Boat Up to Date
When Trygve Westergard bought the 98- by 28-foot Judi B in the spring of 2016 he was entering a new chapter in a varied marine career. Growing up on a remote island off Ketchikan, Alaska as the third generation of Norwegian-Danish family, he had fishing in his blood and his environment. A stint at the California Maritime Academy earned him an unlimited masters license and a BS in marine transportation.After a decade of running everything from ferries to off-shore boats and filling the gaps with fishing, Westergard decided it was time to come home.
Triple-screw Tug for the Hudson
“The Daisy Mae is the closest you can get to Z-drive maneuverability, without the cost of Z-drive,” maintains her builder Joseph Rodriguez of Rodriguez Ship Building Inc. in Bayou LaBatre, Ala. Rodriguez has designed and built a lot of tugs over the years and doesn’t make this claim lightly. Further more he backs it up with his description of the beamy 82 by 32-foot tug that his yard delivered to Coeymans Marine Towing. This is one of the Carver group companies based at the Port of Coeymans 110 miles up the Columbia River from New York.
SJSB Launches Caribbean Landing Craft
Florida based shipbuilder St. Johns Ship Building (SJSB) launched a newly built 190-foot landing craft vessel for owner Bahamas Ferries on July 28. Designed for transport in the Bahamian islands, the vessel the Grand Master II is outfitted for Caribbean transport with a forward, hydraulic bow ramp and 6,400 square feet of cargo space. Twin 700 HP Cummings QSK19 with Schottel rudder propellers power the Grand Master II. The vessel will also include a 22 inch electric Westmar bow thruster and two 99 KW John Deer generators.
Glosten Debuts New Harbor Tug Design
Seattle-based marine consultancy Glosten has unveiled the HT-67: a new 67' ASD (Z-Drive) harbor tug designed for versatility of service on inland and near coastal waters. Outfitted with a tow winch and pin box/stern roller assembly, this tug can tow astern as efficiently as a conventionally shafted tug of equal horsepower, and handle barges unassisted on arrival and departure. The Glosten HT-67 was developed with input from experienced towboat operators, noted Capt. Peter Soles, a Marine Consultant at Glosten.
St. Johns Building Landing Craft Series
Palatka, Fla. shipbuilder St. Johns Ship Building (SJSB) said it is currently constructing the first of three new vessels in a series of 190 foot landing crafts for a Caribbean group. This vessel will be powered by twin 700 HP Cummings QSK19 with Schottel rudder propellers. The vessel will also include a 22 inch electric Westmar bow thruster, a hydraulic bow ramp and two 99 KW John Deer generators. This landing craft features open deck with 6400 square feet of cargo space. A raised two story deck house on the aft of the vessel allows for unimpeded cargo room from the bow to stern.
San Francisco’s New Fireboat is Like No Other
San Francisco’s Jensen-designed super pumping fireboat is like none that came before her. As a result, the City by the Bay is prepared like never before, for its next crisis. Christened on October 17, appropriately enough on the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the city of San Francisco’s first new fireboat in almost 60 years is an especially unique boat, designed and built for a specific purpose. When the infamous quake burst the domestic water lines beneath San Francisco, it left local firefighters scrambling for a water source from which they could fight the fires that ensued. Today, Fireboat 3 – named locally by a young grade school student as the St.
MPFSV Harvey Stone Delivered to Harvey Gulf
The Harvey Stone is a Multi-Purpose Field Support Vessel (MPFSV) that will serve as a dedicated field support vessel for the Shell Stones FPSO offshore terminal. Her primary duties will be to operate as the dedicated pull-back tug, in support of, and assisting the berthing, loading and unberthing of offtake tankers of up to 46,287 SDWT. The vessel is expected to escort the above FPSO in the event of disconnection from the submerged buoy mooring for hurricane avoidance purposes…
Vigor Delivers San Francisco’s New Fireboat
Vigor recently delivered an 88’ x 25’ x 14’ fireboat to the San Francisco Fire Department. The yet to be named vessel is the first fireboat to join San Francisco’s fleet in 61 years. Designed by Jensen Maritime and built at Vigor’s Seattle shipyard, the unique vessel is not only a firefighting tool but also a mobile pumping station powerhouse, the shipbuilder said. It’s capable of pumping millions of gallons of water directly from the Bay into the City’s Auxiliary Water System – a feature that will keep fire hoses flowing in the event an earthquake damages San Francisco’s water mains.
Lady Loren: Big Hours, Little Wear
Russell Plaisance, president of Louisiana Carriers, built the pusher-tug Lady Loren at Dickie Adam’s Lockport Fabrication in 2008. At the launch, he explained that the boat was the result of five years of planning and a lifetime of experience in the maritime world of the Gulf of Mexico. The 82- by 29-foot Lady Loren was the seventh boat in the LA Carriers’ fleet. “ I keep my business diversified, ” Plaisance explained at the time. “We do $10 or 11 million gross per year including some business with the oil industry, but we do a little of everything else as well.
Incat Crowther Supplies Crewboat Design, Build Kits
Incat Crowther has been awarded a contract with shipbuilder Astinave EP of Guayaquil, Ecuador for the supply of vessel design services and aluminum component kits for a pair of 22.5m monohull crewboats currently under construction for an undisclosed client. The vessels will operate in support of Ecaudor’s state-owned oil and gas company, Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana (Flopec). Incat Crowther said the 20-knot crewboats feature modern styling combined with a robust and simple-to-build structure.