Stephen Swindal News

Marine Towing of Tampa, LLC will host a private dedication ceremony on Thursday, June 12 to debut its new tugboat, Patriot, at Port Tampa Bay. The Patriot is one of the few tugboats in the United States with open ocean firefighting capabilities spraying nearly 12,000 gallons per minute at a distance of 400 feet. Built in East Boothbay, Maine, the 93’ long, 5,000 horsepower tugboat equipped with two Tier 3 sixteen cylinder Caterpillar engines and two Rolls-Royce Z-drives will add to the continued growth at all ports and facilities on Tampa Bay and provide additional fire-fighting capabilities in the port and on open water. Marine Towing of Tampa said it has has one of the youngest average fleet ages in the harbor tug business.