the vessels must be able to operate in challenging conditions. The 10-year contract with Aleyska Pipeline Service Co. is also giving rise to some of the most powerful tugs ever to be built: the 150-ton bollard pull ASD 4517, being jointly developed by ECO and Damen to handle the demanding conditions of the far north. Five of these tugs will be built.
YEARBOOK: INLAND WATERWAYS
Robert Allan Ltd.
Barge overcapacity problems linger
By Pamela Glass, Correspondent
The Trident is the first U.S.-built Rotortug.
lite television, and wider bunks and larger heads for the crew quarters. For noise control and insulation, there is Rock Wool insulation over Mascoat, thermal acoustic paint, and soft-core panels and overheads. The wheelhouse features mostly wooden accents for a more traditional look. Vane Brothers continued to build out its fleet of Entech-designed Elizabeth Anne-class tugs, adding the fourth of eight planned vessels with the delivery of the 100'×34'×13' Delaware built by St. Johns Shipbuilding, Palatka, Fla. Named one of WorkBoat’s 10 Significant Boats of 2016, the Elizabeth Anne and her sisters are powered by twin Caterpillar 3516 Tier 3 engines, for a combined 4,200 hp at 1,600 rpm. FIRST U.S. ROTORTUG Rotortugs were introduced to the U.S. market by Seabulk Towing, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., early this year with the unveiling of the 98'6"×43'6"×15'7" Trident on Alabama’s Mobile River. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, the nimble RAL Advanced Rotortug (ART) design uses three Schottel SRP 1210 azimuth propulsion units, driven by three Caterpillar 3512C Tier 3 engines, each turning 1,910 hp at 1,600 rpm. The first of three tugs being built for 42
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Seabulk by Master Boat Builders, Bayou La Batre, Ala., the Trident is based at Port Everglades, Fla. Serving the harbor towing, ship assist and escort, and emergency towing market, the Seabulk Rotortugs are designed to bring enhanced safety and maneuverability to demanding jobs, such as serving the growing U.S. LNG export market. In one of the bigger tug deals of 2016, Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group announced a plan to build 13 heavy duty azimuth stern drive (ASD) mooring and ship assist tugs for work in Texas and Alaska. At its five shipyards, Chouest will build four Damen-designed ASD 3212 tugs to serve LNG tankers that call at ECO’s new LNG export terminal under construction at Corpus Christi, Texas. Another four ASD 3212s will be built for service in Alaska waters, where ECO will handle ship assist duties at Valdez in Prince William Sound starting in July 2018. ECO is taking over the marine services contract from Crowley Marine Services to provide ship assist and response vessel services. Along a coast made infamous during the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident and spill, those services must meet high standards and
T
he biggest inland waterways story of 2016 has been the effect declining coal markets and oil prices have had on the dry and liquid barge sectors, resulting in big financial losses, idled equipment, consolidation and a general malaise among operators. On the dry side, even record movements of corn and soybeans for export, typically a big boost for barges that haul grain from the Midwest to Gulf Coast terminals, couldn’t offset the deep decline in barged coal shipments. Tough environmental regulations and low natural gas prices have led to closures of older, less efficient coal-fired plants. Total barged shipments of coal to power plants along the inland rivers in 2016 were down 10.5% from 2015, and off 40% from the peak year in 2006, according to Energy Department data cited by the River Transport News (RTN). As a result, the market has been hit by an oversupply of barges and lower barge freight rates. Add to this a mild winter, which pushed down demand for energy, a dip in international demand for most commodities, and the decline of the once booming fracking industry, and barge operators were hit on all sides. Freight rates dropped, hitting the bottom lines of barge companies. Weak demand to transport coal, aluminum, crude oil and refined products forced
www.workboat.com • JUNE 2017 • WorkBoat
5/4/17 1:57 PM