Buyer sought for West Coast mega ATB

Atb

Anyone in the market for a new ATB tug?

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders finished building the second of two 139-by-44-foot tugs in May. But as of then, there was no buyer for the vessel modeled after Abundance, which was delivered in mid-2017.

Abundance currently pushes the 508-foot liquefied ammonia barge Harvest for Savage Companies.

The unnamed tug, currently laid up at Foss’ Seattle facility, has EMD 16-710 Tier 3 engines generating 4,000 hp each at 900 rpm driving 133.8-inch Rolls-Royce props in nozzles. The reduction gears are Lufkin RHS 3200.

Electrical service comes from two 200-kW Caterpillar C7.1 generators, while a Caterpillar C9.3 engine powers the fire pump. The emergency generator is a Cat C7.1 unit producing 138 kW.

The U.S.-flagged tug will mate with a barge through an Articouple pin system. Service speed is 14 knots.

Robert Hill of Ocean Tug/Barge Engineering of Milford, Mass., designed Abundance and Harvest. He said the unit is “running fantastically” for Savage and expects similar performance for the second tug.

“It is the same highly effective boat and will make someone a fine ATB,” he said in a recent interview. “It is really heavily built. It is not a paper tiger design. It is a really nice piece of equipment.”

Details surrounding ownership of the unnamed new SOLAS-rated tug at Nichols Brothers weren’t available. Ship broker Marcon is currently listing it for sale.

Millville
Convenience store chain Wawa took delivery of the ATB tug Millville and barge 1964 from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding late last year.

The 8,000-hp Millville is powered by twin GE Tier 4 engines turning Nautican props in nozzles through Reintjes reduction gears. John Deere gensets provide electrical power. The tug and barge are linked through an Intercontinental coupler system.

Guarino & Cox designed the tug and 185,000-bbl barge. Wawa sells roughly 2 percent of all gasoline in the U.S., and the new vessels will supply its 140 or so Florida retail locations.

Paul McLernan
Kirby Corp. took delivery in July 2017 of the second of two ATB units from Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding.

The 123-by-38-foot Paul McLernan is paired with the 155,000-bbl 155-02 through an Intercontinental coupler. The 521-foot barge hauls petroleum and chemical cargoes.

Propulsion on the 6,000-hp tug consists of twin EMD Tier 3 engines turning stainless-steel props through Reintjes reduction gears.

On the Horizon
• Bouchard Transportation of Melville, N.Y., announced the construction of the 112-foot, 4,000-hp tug Evening Breeze and Barge No. 252. VT Halter Marine is building the tug, and Bollinger Shipyards will deliver the 55,000-bbl barge. The tug will have Tier 4 engines and will pair with the barge through an Intercontinental coupler.

• VT Halter also is building the first U.S. ATB bunkering unit for handling liquefied natural gas. Harvey Gulf will operate the 452-foot ATB unit capable of moving 4,000 cubic meters of LNG. It will operate along the southeastern U.S. and primarily serve cruise ships.

• Crowley Maritime subsidiary Crowley Fuels has ordered an Alaska-class ATB unit to transport clean petroleum in the Alaska market. Bollinger Marine Fabricators of Amelia, La., will build the 100,000-bbl ice-class and Polar Code ATB unit designed by Jensen Maritime Consultants. The propulsion system will include Tier 4 GE engines.

By Professional Mariner Staff