Marco Shipyard Seattle News

The newest tractor tug to come out of MARCO Shipyard Seattle is the 105-ft. Millennium Dawn, the third boat in its class designed and built for Harley Marine Services of Seattle, and the twelfth tractor tug from MARCO. It will join her sister ships operating in Long Beach, Calif., part of Harley’s West Coast and Alaska operations that in clued Olympic Tug & Barge, Millenium maritime, Pacific Coast Maritime, Public Service marine and Westoil Marine Services. Like her predecessors, the new tug is a powerful, multipurpose vessel, capable of providing ship assist, inland and ocean towing, and escort services. Her rugged design has evolved from MARCO’s first tractor tug, the Gyrfalcon, operated by Pacific Coast Maritime.

New tractor tug Delta Linda, delivered to Baydelta Maritime, by MARCO Shipyard Seattle, is virtually identical to another tug of the same name built for Baydelta two years ago. Since her delivery in November 1997, the first MARCO-built Delta Linda has been renamed and placed on long-term charter, and the new Delta Linda is her replacement. Like her predecessor, the new tug is 105 ft. long, with a beam overall of 36.8 ft. and a draft of 13-17 ft. She is powered by a pair of Caterpillar 3516B diesels, providing a total of 4,400 bhp to her twin Ulstein 1650H Z-drive units, with 94.5 in. skewed Kaplan-style propellers in Ulstein high-performance nozzles. This propulsion combination has increased the static bollard pull by more than seven percent compared with the earlier vessel.

San Rafael, a 204 x 44 x 16 ft. OSV was recently launched by Eastern Shipbuilding Group. The vessel is being constructed for Naviera Tamaulipas, S.A. de C.V. of Tampico, Mexico, for operations in the Bahia de Campeche fields off Eastern Mexico. Capacities include 110,000 gallons of fuel, 211,000 gallons of drill water/ballast, 7,200 cu. ft. of bulk mud in six tanks, and 3,012 barrels of liquid mud. The propulsion plant consists of a pair of Caterpillar 3516B main engines rated at 2,000 hp each @ 1,600 rpm, complete with Caterpillar Engine Vision Alarm and Monitoring System, coupled to Reintjes WAF-862 gearboxes, with 96 in. diameter, four-blade stainless steel propellers.

The newest tractor tug to come out of MARCO Shipyard Seattle is the 105-ft. Millennium Dawn, the third boat in its class designed and built for Harley Marine Services of Seattle, and the 12th tractor tug from MARCO. It will join her sister ships operating in Long Beach, Calif., part of Harley's West Coast and Alaska operations that in clued Olympic Tug & Barge, Millenium maritime, Pacific Coast Maritime, Public Service marine and Westoil Marine Services. The new tug is a powerful, multipurpose vessel, capable of providing ship assist, inland and ocean towing, and escort services. Her rugged design has evolved from MARCO's first tractor tug, the Gyrfalcon, operated by Pacific Coast Maritime.

A few weeks before scheduled delivery of the first of two new 104-ft. pilot boats for the San Francisco Bar Pilots, Marco Shipyard Seattle managers were anticipating a smooth, on-time delivery – but everything changed during the vessel’s first sea trial. “At that late date we realized that the keel coolers that we specified and purchased were not adequate to cool the diesel generators. After we had already purchased the generator sets and the keel coolers, the diesel engines’ specifications, including heat rejection, were changed by their manufacturer,” says Bob McMahon, Marco Shipyard’s vice president and general manager at Marco Seattle. McMahon contacted Duramax Marine, the manufacturer of the new DuraCooler keel coolers used on the pilot boats.

California Fish & Game recently took delivery of P/V Thresher, a 54 ft. all-aluminum catamaran, designed by Teknicraft of Aukland, New Zealand, and built by Kvichak Marine, of Seattle, Wash. The partially foil-supported catamaran will be stationed in Dana Point as a Fish and Game Marine Enforcement patrol vessel for Southern California. The cat's beam is 20.2 ft., and weighs nearly 28 tons fully loaded. Powered by twin Caterpillar 3196 DITA diesel engines, driving 30 in. stainless steel propellers through Twin Disc MG 5114A gears, Thresher cruises at 26 knots with a top speed of 30 knots. Deck equipment includes an aft deck A-frame to deploy and retrieve a customer-supplied Hurricane inflatable.

MARCO Shipyard Seattle has signed a contract to construct a third Millennium Class tractor tug for Harley Marine Services. Measuring 105 ft. (32 m), the multipurpose tug will be identical to its sisterships, Millennium Falcon and Millennium Star, delivered in February and August 2000, respectively. Construction of the tug is ongoing, with delivery planned for March 2002. Similar to its predecessors, the MARCO-designed tug will have an overall beam of 37 ft. (11.2 m) and a molded depth of 17 ft. (5 m). It will be powered by a pair of Caterpillar 3516B diesels, providing a total of 4,400 bhp that will drive Ulstein Z-drive units, each fitted with 94.5-in. four-bladed props set in nozzles. Deck machinery will feature headline and tow winches from Burrard Iron Works of British Columbia.

Tugz International L.L.C., an affiliate of The Great Lakes Group, christened three "Z" Class multi-purpose reverse tractor tugs at MARCO Shipyard, Seattle, completing the second phase of the company's fleet expansion and upgrade program, which now exceeds $30 million. The christening ceremony marks the 100 year anniversary of The Great Lakes Towing Company, whose early shareholders included John D. Rockefeller and James R. Sinclair. Z-Three, Z-Four and Z-Five, as the tugs are called, will be operated under a U.S. Navy contract to provide harbor towing services at the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Designed by Jensen Maritime Consultants, Seattle, the 95 x 32 ft.

MARCO Shipyard Seattle signed a contract to build a new tug for Harley Marine Services Inc., of Seattle, the parent company of Olympic Tug & Barge. Recently, MARCO completed a series of nine tractor tugs operating in Alaska, California, and Hawaii. Measuring 105 ft., the new tug will be used by Harley Marine as a ship assist and towing service for the West Coast. Except for some pilothouse modifications and the addition of barge fendering, the tug will be similar to Gyrfalcon, owned and operated by Harley Marine in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Scheduled for a February 2000 delivery, the tug will be powered by twin Caterpillar 3516B diesels, providing a combined 4,400-hp driving Ulstein 1650H Z-drive units, each fitted with Ulstein's nozzle and skewed Kaplan-style propellers.

MARCO Shipyard Seattle is scheduled to design and build a duo of 104 ft., (31.7 m) pilot station boats for the San Francisco Bar Pilots. With construction to commence soon, the design portion of the project is near completion. The first vessel is set for delivery before year-end, with the second to follow in early 2001. Comprised of steel, the twin-screw vessels will replace the two existing station boats in the Bar Pilots' five-vessel fleet. Powered by twin Caterpillar 3508B diesels, providing a total of 2,200-hp and a design speed of 14 knots, the vessels will boast an overall beam of 30 ft. (9.1 m) and a depth of 13 ft. Designed to safely transport pilots to and from ships entering…

MARCO Shipyard Seattle is scheduled to design and build a duo of 104 ft. pilot station boats for the San Francisco Bar Pilots. With construction to commence soon, the design portion of the project is near completion. The first vessel is set for delivery before year-end, with the second to follow in early 2001. Comprised of steel, the twin-screw vessels will replace the two existing station boats in the Bar Pilots' five-vessel fleet. Powered by twin Caterpillar 3508B diesels, providing a total of 2,200-hp and a design speed of 14 knots, the vessels will boast an overall beam of 30 ft. and a depth of 13 ft. Designed to safely transport pilots to and from ships entering, departing or transiting the San Francisco Bay waterways, the vessels will feature accommodations for eight pilots.