Crowley’s First Two Next Generation Tugs Christened at Bollinger Shipyards, USA

As part of the company’s industry-leading new vessel build program, Crowley Maritime Corp. christened, Oct 26, the first two of four tugboats in the ocean class series, Ocean Wave and Ocean Wind, in New Orleans, La. Both tugboats are scheduled to begin work this year in the U.S. Gulf for a major customer in the global oil and gas industry. More than 250 guests, including friends and employees from Crowley and representatives from Bollinger Shipyard, of Amelia, La., attended the event.

Ideally suited to work with Crowley’s new 455 series high-deck strength barges, which measure 400 feet long by 105 feet wide (121.92 meters by 32 meters), these ocean class tugs will be outfitted for long-range, high-capacity ocean towing, rig moves, platform and floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit tows, emergency response and firefighting.

These next generation tugs are 146 (Ocean Wave and Wind) and 156 (Ocean Sun and Sky) feet long, 44 feet wide and have a draft of 21 feet. They are designed to have a minimum bollard pull of 150 metric tons, and range for the vessels will be approximately 12,600 nautical miles at 15 knots free running. They will be outfitted with twin-screw, controllable-pitch propellers in nozzles and high lift rudders for a combination of performance and fuel economy.

The tugs also feature dynamic positioning technology (DP-1 and DP-2), which allows the vessel to maintain its positioning and heading automatically using a centralized manual control that continuously calculates environmental conditions and adjusts to the dynamics. The Caterpillar-supplied main engines and generators are all EPA Tier II compliant, and have the ability to be upgraded to meet future environmental standards, for cleaner emissions and a lower environmental impact. Further environmental protection is provided by the tugs’ double-hulls, which are designed to prevent any overboard discharges of fuel or fluids. All tanks containing liquids are inboard of the side shell.

Safety is of paramount importance to Crowley and this class of newly designed tugs will feature waterfall style winches, shark jaws and retractable pins that can all be controlled from the pilothouse, keeping the deck clear of personnel and reducing the risk of accidents. The tug design also features ergonomic accommodations and comforts proven to minimize fatigue and reduce injuries amongst crew.

The boats will hold Green Passports, which inventory materials present in a vessel’s structure, systems and equipment that may be hazardous to health or the environment. The Green Passport is regularly updated and maintained and is eventually passed by the owner to the vessel recycling yard at the end of the ship’s life, to enable the yard to formulate a safe and environmentally sound way of breaking the vessel.

The tugs will meet all SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) and ABS criteria including ABS Fi-Fi 1 firefighting standards, and will have the capability to support salvage and rescue towing opportunities, as well as the U.S. Navy’s SUPSALV Contract.

Other vessels in Crowley’s industry-leading build program include the recently completed tenth and final 650 class articulated tug barge tank vessel (ATB) and three new 750 class ATBs, the Legacy/750-1, Legend/750-2 and Liberty/750-3. Crowley has invested more than $1 billion in new tugs, high-capacity barges and ATBs as part of this program.

The remaining ocean class vessels are being constructed at Bollinger Marine Fabricators, LLC, in Amelia, La., and are scheduled for delivery in 2013.

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Press Release, October 29, 2012; Image: crowley