Tugboats & Towing

Crew boat built to perform and to entertain

Professional Mariner Staff
 
Greater Scott is a 160-footer built by Neuville Boat Works for Texas Crewboats.

The 160-by-30-foot Greater Scott was delivered from Neuville Boat Works, New Iberia. La., to Texas Crewboats, Freeport, Texas, in January. She is the seventh boat in the fleet of the company founded by Elliott Cundieff in 1979.

Greater Scott is contracted to Nippon Oil, servicing a deepwater rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 90 miles from Cameron, La. She carries 37,674 gallons of rig water and 20,986 gallons of fuel as well as 280 long tons of cargo on her 92-by-24.5-foot deck.
Four Cummins KTA-38M2 mains achieve 5,400 hp, driving Twin Disc MGS 6650 gears at a

Good communications are important for operations and crew and passenger comfort. A cell phone booster enhances wireless signals for personal calls.

2.5:1 ratio, and turning four-blade HyTorq 45/46 nibral propellers from Jefferson Propeller. Her speed is 25 knots. Thrustmaster supplied the 75-hp electric-over-hydraulic 24-inch tunnel bow thruster.

An unusual addition to the engine room is a Waterguard Technology Products fuel filtration system which treats the fuel in the cargo tanks for use in the boat’s own engines. The system can move 1,200 gallons per hour from the cargo tanks through the filtration system, separating water and particles from the diesel, to the running tanks.

Larry Morton, the lead captain, at the wheel, with Capt. Calvin Kirkland in the background.

The passenger compartment has seating for 68. The crew is quartered in four staterooms: one each for the captains and two with bunks for the engineer, deck hand and trainees.

Passenger and crew amenities are a priority with Texas Crewboats. To that end, they have installed a cell phone booster in the passenger area that greatly enhances wireless signals for personal communication. Two 50-inch plasma flat screen LG televisions, with surround sound, dominate the forward bulkhead of the passenger compartment, like altars to distraction. Another 40-inch LG plasma hangs above the galley

The boat is powered by four Cummins KTA-38M2 main engines driving Twin Disc MGS 6650 gears. Total horsepower is 5,400.

table, and there is a 26-inch LG in each of the captain’s cabins.

“He (Elliott Cundieff) made it very pleasant to be here,” said Larry Morton, the lead captain. “If you’ve had a rough or stressful day, you have a place to go, a place to get away.”
“I like the electronics package and the amount of room in the cabins, and the beds,” said Capt. Calvin Kirkland. “Elliott made it very accommodating for the crew and the passengers.”

There is a growing demand for fast turnaround crew boats that can transport rig workers and a substantial amount of cargo between deepwater rigs and the oil-supply ports. Texas Crewboats is building a sister to Greater Scott at Neuville, named Sea Angel. Calvin Kirkland will be the lead captain on her when she is delivered in September.

By Professional Mariner Staff