Powerful Shallow-Draft Paraguay Towboat
The red carpet was out for visitors to come onboard at the commissioning ceremony for the Tebicuary 3. Photo: Cummins/Haig-Brown
Two of the vessel’s four 1600 hp, Cummins KTA50 main engines and, in forground, one of the two Cummins 855-powered gensets. Photo: Cummins/Haig-Brown
Gathered in the Tebicuary 3 engine room are (l to r) -Victor Vacelar, Application Analyst at Cummins, Armando Tavarozzi, HHP Sales Leader at Cummins, Marcial Yoshizaki, Commercial Manager at Tsuneishi, Claudia Kowalczuk, Marketing & Communication Leader at Cummins, Modesto Benitez, Mechanical Technician at Cummins. Photo: Cummins/Haig-Brown
Paraguay’s Tsuneishi Shipyard, a subsidiary of the Japanese firm of the same name, recently delivered the powerful towboat Tebicuary 3 to her owners Navegación del Sur S.A. (Navesur) in June of 2018.
The new vessel is a near sister-ship to the 2015-delivered Ceasar Primo for a different owner. The newer vessel will also work on the Paraguay-Paraná River system that provides marine access to large parts of central South America.
“The Paraguay-Paraná Waterway is a regional agreement between Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay with the aim of facilitating navigation and thus regional and international trade. Comprising the Paraguay, Paraná, and Uruguay rivers, at 3,442 kilometers it is one of the longest natural waterways in the world, extending from Puerto Cáceres, Brazil to Nueva Palmira, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its area of influence encompasses a direct surface area of 720,000 km² and an indirect surface area of 3,500,000 km². It is one of the most essential transport routes for the geographical integration of regional trade between Mercosur and the rest of the world.” From http://navesur.com.py/en/#hidrovias
At 6,400 hp, the Tebicuary 3 is more powerful than most of the towboats currently working on the river system. The power derives from four Cummins KTA50 engines, each developing 1600 hp at 1800 RPM. The boat is 43 by 18-meters with an operating draft of only 1.83 meters allowing it to push barges into most areas of the inland waterway.
In addition to the Cummins propulsion engines, the Tebicuary 3 is fitted with two Cummins Marine NTA855-powered 240 kVA / 50 hz (Total Power: 480 kVA) generator sets. There is also a Cummins 6B CS 93 kVa / 50 Hz emergency generator set. All the engines and gen sets have Japanese NK class certificates.
With Cummins C Command electronic controls the engines will be able to maximize fuel efficiency and savings. All of this adds to the significant environmental savings by moving cargos from trucks to barges.
