The following is the text of a news release from JonRie InterTech LLC:
(MANAHAWKIN, N.J.) — Petchem Inc. has taken delivery of its new Farrell & Norton 80-foot 5,000-hp ASD tug from Gulf Coast Steel Boat Builders in Bayou La Batre, Ala. The tug features JonRie Marine Winches' new Container Master Series of winches. The winch was designed with increased braking capability and rope capacity to deal with larger containerships calling on East Coast ports. The Container Master Series is a heavy-duty design to deal with increased loading due to increased sail area of today’s containerships.
The winch system features JonRie’s new Gen-X controls with its new Hall Effect foot pedal and joystick operation to provide proportional control of the line haul and line out modes of the winch. The controls also feature JonRie’s message screen to allow the engineers to know the parameters of the winch and if a malfunction occurs the screen will note the cause. The system also features bypass control to negate the SCRs when running and just monitor the winch load across the line of the buss to help reduce heat. The controls also feature JonRie’s new auto abort system to allow the operator a one move to abort the hawser. The tug has a unique design with tapered windows for line of sight with the winch for a safer operation using JonRie’s foot pedal control for hands-free control.
JonRie’s standard featured systems are also included on the new tug, with a tension readout system with a red back light with dimming controls for better night vision for the master that still displays the load on the tug and winch. Petchem’s new equipment prepares East Coast ports for the increased tonnage coming through the canal in the near future.
