(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) — Crowley Maritime Corp. has delivered Shell’s Appomattox semi-submersible floating production system (FPS) to the open waters of the U.S. Gulf from Kiewit Offshore Services' construction facility in Ingleside, Texas. Making the tow-out possible were Crowley’s Ocean Sky and Ocean Sun tugboats, which worked together on behalf of customer Heerema, alongside other third-party assets to deliver Appomattox.
Demonstrating both nearshore and offshore capabilities, the company’s Ocean-class tugs safely towed the FPS through the Aransas Channel, then disconnected and provided escort services to the deepwater installation site. Once there, the tugs reconnected to provide positioning support so Heerema could attach the Appomattox FPS to its mooring spread.
Crowley’s Ocean-class tugs are twin-screw vessels with controllable-pitch propellers (CPP) in nozzles, high-lift rudders and more than 147 metric-ton bollard pull. The first two Ocean-class vessels, Ocean Wave and Ocean Wind, are classed as Dynamic Positioning 1 (DP1) tugboats and are twin-screw tugs with an overall length of 146 feet, beam of 46 feet, hull depth of 25 feet and design draft of 21 feet. The second two tugs of the class, Ocean Sky and Ocean Sun, are classed as DP2 and are 10 feet longer. All four vessels are capable of rig moves, platform and floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit tows, emergency response, salvage support and firefighting.
