Cooper Marine adds the ‘Crimson White II’ to its fleet of towing vessels

The Crimson White II, a 4,600 HP towing vessel and one of the largest vessels operating on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway, was recently added to Cooper Marine’s fleet.

The Crimson White II, a 4,600HP towing vessel and one of the largest vessels operating on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway, was recently added to Cooper Marine’s fleet. Cooper Marine, headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Cooper Group, Inc.

Formerly operated as the Jinx P Smith, the Crimson White II is a 108-foot long towing vessel, powered by EMD engines. The vessel is fully compliant with United States Coast Guard regulatory requirements, including 46 CFR Subchapter M. The acquisition of the Crimson White II expands Cooper Marine’s fleet to 41 towing vessels.

“Acquiring the Crimson White II bolsters our long-standing commitment of providing the industry’s most reliable barge affreightment services,” said Angus R. Cooper III, President of The Cooper Group, Inc. “Adding to our fleet one of the largest towing vessels currently operating on the Tenn-Tom provides our customers with continued assurance that Cooper Marine will always deliver the most reliable barge transportation services in the country.”

“As we continue to grow our worldclass fleet with the addition of the Crimson White II, we do so to best ensure our customers that they can continue to depend on Cooper Marine to offer the safest and most reliable barge transportation service in the industry,” said James C. Fowler, Managing Director of Marine & Stevedoring Operations for Cooper Marine.

Cooper Marine’s operations are powered by 41 towing vessels, 450 hopper barges, and one of the country's largest fleet of dry bulk gantry and floating derrick cranes. The company’s marine footprint includes the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway, Mississippi River, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Black Warrior River, Tennessee River, Tombigbee River, Mobile

River, Ohio River, Illinois River, Arkansas River, and Cumberland River. Cooper Marine’s world-class stevedoring operations include two deep-draught bulk cargo terminals in the Port of Mobile and numerous inland marine terminals throughout the states of Alabama and Mississippi.

Crimson White Ii Specifications

This 108ft-long and 34ft-wide vessel is powered by two Electro–Motive Diesel (EMD) engines. The vessel has a 50,000+ gallon fuel tank and is outfitted with six crew staterooms, five-and-a-half baths, and a full galley arrangement. The Crimson White II is outfitted with a state-of-the-art National Railway Equipment Power Systems alarm system. DCi

Associated British Ports has successfully completed the rollout of a new Terminal Operating System (TOS) — CommTrac v4 — at the port in Newport, South Wales, UK.

This new system, which is supplied by TBA, has been deployed to help streamline the management of AgriBulk operations at ABP’s second-largest bulk handling port in its Wales and Short Sea Ports region.

This introduction in Newport is the fifth deployment of this system across the ABP network, having previously launched at Teignmouth, Hull (two terminals) and King’s Lynn, and is the latest example of ABP increasingly digitizing the operations of supply chains through its ports across all cargo types.

This is producing benefits of visibility and efficiency both for our customers and ABP through advanced operational data recording and real-time optimization of non-containerized cargo management.

Tom Batchelor, Head of Operations at ABP’s Port of Newport said: “ABP is committed to making ongoing and significant investment to help ensure ABP’s customers benefit from the most efficient port operations — across all of our ports, and whatever the cargo.

“The latest rollout of CommTrac V4 at ABP’s Port of Newport highlights how ABP is working hard to deliver this. Since 2019, ABP has invested approximately £50 million in its infrastructure, digitalization and