Icebreaking Tug Delivered to NY Power Authority
A new icebreaking tugboat built by Blount Boats in Rhode Island has been delivered to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to work in the Niagara River to help alleviate shoreline flooding and reduce the likelihood of ice limiting the power production at large hydro plants along the Niagara River. The Breaker II joins a fleet of three boats that work every winter to install the Lake Erie—Niagara River Ice Boom—a series of 22 spans of steel pontoons that straddle the mouth of the…
Robert Allan Ltd.: The Place that Launched 1,000 Tugs
Over the last few years, as the design output from Robert Allan Ltd. to the global tugboat community began to border on the prodigious, we were often asked, “How many tugs has your company designed?” Until very recently we really did not have a good handle on that number, so the answer was usually either “a lot” or “many hundreds”, neither of which were particularly illuminating. So a search was begun late in 2016 to review our archives and try to determine the tug tally much more precisely. Would we rival Helen? Where did it all begin?
New Tug Equipped for US Tonnage Boom
Petchem, Inc. has taken delivery of its new Farrell & Norton 80’ 5,000HP ASD tug from Gulf Coast Steel Boat Builder’s in Bayou La Batre, Ala. Petchem’s new vessel and equipment help prepare East Coast ports for the increased tonnage coming through the canal in the near future. In order to better handle larger containerships calling ports on the U.S. East Coast, the tug features a new Container Master Series winch from JonRie Marine Winches. Designed with increased braking capability and rope capacity…
Canadian Shrimp Boat Repowered by YANMAR
When it came time to replace the engine in the shrimping boat R.J.H. No. 1 operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and GaspéPeninsula in Quebec, mechanical simplicity, reliability and improved fuel economy led the vessel’s owners to opt for a YANMAR 6AYM-WST repower. Installed in 2015 by YANMAR dealer Enterprises Maritimes Bouchard, Inc. and supported by YANMAR distributor Diesel-Bec, the new 6AYM-WST engine runs at 659 mhp 1900min-1 coupled with a Twin Disc MG 518 ratio 5.92:1 marine gear.
A Running Take-Out for Seaspan Cutlass
A steel boat can continue to serve for many years if properly maintained. Seaspan Marine is the largest towing company on the British Columbia coast. Utilizing the services of their sister companies Vancouver Drydock, Vancouver Shipyard and Victoria Shipyards, they do much of their own repair and maintenance work. The upgrade and maintenance of the 25.24 by 7.56-meter (82.8 x 24.8) Seaspan Cutlass was done at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyard, which was the yard that built the tug and her sisters, including the Seaspan Cavalier in 1975. Both tugs have received similar upgrades.
Fishing for Maximum Power
The commercial fishing industry must rely on the power of their vessel to stay afloat in business. Weather, rough water, long excursions and heavy loads can cause great wear and tear on a boat. When fishermen spend hours, days and even weeks at sea, they have to count on the boat's engines to get them safely to and from their destination. Captain Bob Brewster, the owner of Brewster Fishing out of Barnegat Light, NJ, and a long-line commercial fisherman, has been fishing the Atlantic Ocean, from New England to Puerto Rico, since 1992. He and his crew of four depend on his two vessels, the F/V Snoopy, a 55-ft. wooden, long-line, gill netting boat, built in 1969 and the F/V Eaglet, a 65-ft. steel boat, built in 1972.
