The Great Lakes Towing Company christens two newest tugs

The Great Lakes Towing Company held an official naming ceremony for its two newest tugs on Wednesday, December 16.

Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the fourth and fifth vessels, respectively, in a series of 10 Damen-designed harbour tugs that Great Lakes Shipyard is building for The Great Lakes Towing Company’s operations. Each tug has a length of 19.5 metres, a beam of 7.3 metres, and two MTU 8V4000 745kW diesel engines that deliver a bollard pull of over 30 tonnes.

The tugs’ propulsion systems include a Canal Marine-designed hybrid power system that enables operations on electric power while at idle, underway at low speeds, or when under low loads, without the need to utilise the main engines, thereby reducing emissions and the cost of engine maintenance.