Weeks flagship dredge builds its name on Jersey shore
The winter of 2018 saw…
Author: Photos and story by Brian Gauvin
New Texas A&M boat gets researchers right where they need to go
As Capt. Steve Brown entered Bolivar Roads at the entrance to Galveston Bay, he opened up the Scania mains, propelling Texas A&M’s new 65-foot research and training vessel up to 22 knots, then demonstrated a very flat turn at speed.
Foss tugs work in unison to assist ro-ro ship at Tacoma
The tugboats Henry Foss and Marshall Foss idled slow bell in the Tacoma, Wash., harbor.
Re-powered Calif. tugs provide Crowley with ship-assist upgrade
On a summer morning in San Diego, the Crowley Maritime tugs Scout and Tioga slipped their moorings at the Crosby Street pier and headed under the Coronado Bridge to await the Pasha Hawaii 692-foot con-ro vessel Marjorie C.
Tampa tug designed with wider beam to improve stability
An azimuthing stern drive tug with 75 tons of bollard pull seems like a lot of muscle to assist in docking a tank barge, but the adage “no job is too small” often rules the day.
With push knees close together, little tug handles winter challenges
It was early March and 20 degrees on the Potomac River, but Capt. Steve McLaughlin was sweating. Fully licensed but working that day as a deck hand on the tug Capt. Kenneth, McLaughlin was struggling with a thick barge line, heavy with ice, across the rail.
McAllister boosts size of new escort tug at Port Everglades
Glowing in biblical light, the tug Tate McAllister was transiting out of the Port Everglades entrance channel, bound for the sea buoy and the 758-foot CCNI Valparaiso, steaming inbound.
New catamaran works on job that namesake started 140 years earlier
Commissioned in 1874, the original 148-foot survey steamer/schooner George S. Blake is credited with the first oceanographic survey of the Gulf of Mexico among other accolades for innovation in hydrographic surveying history.
Commuter headaches, toll roads boost popularity of Va. ferry fleet
Only the occasional muffled sound emanating from the BAE Systems shipyard across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk’s Waterside Marketplace and the low drone of Elizabeth River Ferry II approaching from Portsmouth cut the quiet of a September morning washing over Hampton Roads.
New Chicago cruise boat continues a tradition of luxury river touring
On the Chicago River, a water gauntlet of old low-slung iron bridges cutting through the heart of American architecture, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises is said to set the standard for class among several excursion companies offering architectural cruises.
With powerful engines and winch, shallow-draft tug handles variety of jobs
The 75-foot tug Sea Cypress has been busy since it was delivered from Rodriguez Shipbuilding of Bayou La Batre, Ala., to Garber Bros. Inc. in March.
Classic schooner equipped with modern propulsion redundancy
The word “unique” gets thrown around with abandon in this age of hyper promotion, but it seems the most apt word to describe the 85-foot schooner America 2.0, a modern high-tech version of the famous 19th-century racing schooner and winner of the first America’s Cup.
Small Sounder-model fireboat boasts big water capacity, speed
It does not take long to realize that firefighter and boat operator Sean Kearns is an ardent enthusiast when it comes to the Clark County Fire Department’s spanking new fireboat, Mary Firstenburg.
Starlight Marine escort tugs ready with high horsepower, control
The 100-foot azimuthing stern drive tug Ahbra Franco sparkled on a perfect San Francisco Bay morning. Named for the daughter of Harley Marine Services founder Harley Franco, the tug was delivered last September to the company’s subsidiary, Starlight Marine Services,…
New Dry Tortugas ferry is fast, green, comfortable
On a winter’s day, the 70-mile crossing from Key West, Fla., to Dry Tortugas National Park — Sunshine State or not — can be a cool and rough one.
Pushboat Fury adds to Harley Marine Gulf’s fleet
When Harley Marine Services acquired MGI of Houston in 2011, the Seattle-based company spawned its 10th subsidiary, Harley Marine Gulf, and established itself on all of the U.S. coasts and the country’s commercial inland river system.
Louisiana towboats’ heritage stems from family relations, old gearbox
LeBeouf Bros. Towing of Bourg, La., named one of its two new 95-foot towboats Karl Senner for the founder of the marine equipment supply company, Karl Senner Inc.
Fully equipped Florida research vessel a ‘Swiss Army knife’ of boats
This past spring, the Florida State University Coastal & Marine Laboratory took delivery of the 64.75-foot-by-21.5-foot R/V Apalachee, an aluminum catamaran built at Geo Shipyard in New Iberia, La. The lab is located at St. Teresa on a lonely stretch…
Weeks Marine suction dredge vital to restoring Louisiana’s coastline
On a drizzly Gulf Coast morning in March, the Weeks Marine cutter suction dredge C.R. McCaskill was pumping a thick mud sludge of dredge spoil through a 30-inch diameter pipe at 400 psi on a six-mile journey into Louisiana’s marshland. It took the mud 25 minutes to reach its destination.
Louisiana lugger tug works the shallow-water bays and bayous
Capt. Kenneth Helmer and mate George Clement, the two-man crew on George C, a 68-foot-by-26-foot lugger tug moored at the Venice Marina, north of Head of Passes on the Mississippi River, were making ready to leave on a rig move in March.
Aboard ASD tug William S, Bisso crew are feeling pretty cool
On a brilliant fall afternoon the sparkling new Bisso Towboat azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tug William S put a line up to the 737-foot bulk carrier Golden Kiji at Nine-Mile Anchorage below New Orleans. Along with Michael S on the…
First-ever lightering support vessels prove to be nimble
In mid May, Capt. E.J. “Junior” Breaux was at the controls of AET Excellence, the second in a four-boat series of purpose-built lightering support vessels (LSVs) constructed at Leevac Shipyards in Jennings, La., for AET Offshore Services of Galveston, Texas.
