BOSTON, Massachusetts — Boston Harbor has been an important shipping center for more than 300 years, from its influx of European immigrants to the wide variety of cargo it handles today. Since the early 1970s, the area has become a major center for unloading the liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers that supply natural gas to much of the Northeast. Getting those tankers safely to their terminals is the job of ship-assist tugboats such as those operated by Boston Towing and Transportation (BT&T). When BT&T commissioned two new tugs for assisting LNG tankers belonging to global giant Suez Energy North America, it specified them with twin MTU 16V Series 4000 marine diesel engines. The new ultra-reliable, high-speed diesel engines are proving to be ideally suited to this challenging application.
The two new BT&T tugboats are the 39-meter Independence and the 30-meter Justice. Both boats were designed by the renowned naval architectural firm Robert Allan Ltd. specifically to provide support for LNG ships in harbor and at sea in heavy weather conditions. The Justice was built by Martinac Shipyards in Seattle, Washington; the Independence was built by Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Boston-area MTU distributor, New England Detroit Diesel-Allison in Wakefield, Massachusetts, supplied the engines. The two new boats, the first in the fleet to be equipped with MTU marine engines, join a fleet of eight other tugs owned by BT&T.
According to Bill Skinner, marine superintendent for BT&T, “Suez Energy North America is BT&T’s largest customer, and they have contracted with us to handle LNG ships for the next 20 years. Based on that contract, Boston Towing was able to finance and build the new tugboats and take delivery of them in late 2009.â€
BT&T handles approximately 60 LNG tankers coming into the Port of Boston at Everett, Massachusetts, and also tends supplemental LNG shipments that arrive at the Neptune deep-water terminal in international waters about 12 miles off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The 30-meter Justice was primarily designed to help ships coming into the Port of Boston, while the 39-meter Independence was designed for use at the deep-water terminal offshore. Because of the harsher environment that the Independence works in, the larger tug is specially designed with deck and bulwark deicing for cold weather, and for high winds and steep seas.
MTU Series 4000 engines are being used to power new Boston Towing and Transportation tugboats used at major LNG terminals along the East Coast.
The MTU 16V4000 M61 diesel delivers 2,700 horsepower with unexcelled fuel economy. Its high power-to-weight ratio and quiet operation help create workable engine rooms.
About MTU
MTU Detroit Diesel, Inc. is the North American regional headquarters of MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, one of the world’s most important providers of diesel engines and drive and propulsion systems for ships, heavy-duty land and rail vehicles, and distributed energy. It offers a complete line of power solutions from 30 to 12,200 bhp (20 to 9,100 kW) for applications in the marine, rail, power generation, oil and gas, agriculture, mining, construction and industrial, and defense markets. MTU Detroit Diesel, Inc. is the sales and after-sales organization of the Tognum Group in North America. www.mtu-online.com
Tognum
With its two business units, Engines and Onsite Energy & Components, the Tognum Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of engines and propulsion systems for off-highway applications and of distributed energy systems. These products are based on diesel engines with up to 9,100 kilowatts (kW) power output, gas engines up to 2,150 kW and gas turbines up to 45,000 kW.
The product portfolio of the Engines business unit comprises MTU engines and propulsion systems for ships, for heavy land, rail and defense vehicles and for the oil and gas industry. The portfolio of the Onsite Energy & Components business unit includes distributed energy systems of the brand MTU Onsite Energy and fuel-injection systems from L’Orange. The energy systems comprise diesel engines for emergency standby power, prime power and continuous power, as well as cogeneration power plants based on gas engines and gas turbines that generate both power and heat.
In 2010, Tognum generated revenue of around €2.56 billion and employs more than 9,000 people. Tognum has a global manufacturing, distribution and service structure with 25 fully consolidated companies, more than 140 sales partners and over 500 authorized dealerships at approximately 1,200 locations. The shares of Tognum AG (ISIN: DE000A0N4P43) have been stock-exchange listed since 2007 and are included in the MDAX.
