Ocean Towing with Z-Drives
Western Towboat leads the way with tractor tugs. For a first-hand look at how tractor tugs are used for ocean towing on the West Coast, I took a ride on the first Titan class vessel built by Western Towboat out of Seattle, Wash. The 108-ft Western Titan was built in 1997 with stern Azimuth drives. She pulls a container barge the size of a football field on a tow line from Seattle to Skagway, Alaska, making several port calls along the way and traveling through both the inside passage and waters more open to the Pacific Ocean.
Western Moves Ahead with High Tech Power
On June 15, Western launched its largest piece of high-performance machinery to date: the 120-ft. (36.6 m) Gulf Titan which is 12 ft. longer than Western's two previous builds, the Western Titan and Pacific Titan. As with those two vessels, Western built the new Gulf Titan with design assistance from Jensen Maritime, Seattle. The added length will improve sea-keeping characteristics and increase fuel capacity by 40,000 gallons, says Bob Shrewsbury, Jr., president of Western Towboat Co., Inc. And a new five-blade propeller design with added pitch is expected to coax an extra 2,000 lbs. of bollard pull from the twin Z-drive propulsion system with high-performance nozzles.
Vessel Deliveries
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.
Hydralift Skeg Use Gaining Speed
A device that increases the efficiency of barges is gaining in popularity on the West Coast, especially for Seattle to Alaska and Southeast Alaska runs. Many people report that Hydralift skegs substantially increase the efficiency of towed barges. This results in either increased towing speed or reduced fuel consumption because the horsepower required to tow at the same speed decreases. The Lynden Companies, Alaska Railbelt Marine (ARM) and Alaska Marine Lines (AML), have several barges with Hydralift skegs and another currently under construction. They are using the barges on Seattle to Alaska runs and runs within Southeast Alaska. Western Towboat Company, Inc., which does all the towing for ARM and AML, has two gravel barges with Hydralift skegs themselves.
