VESSEL REVIEW | Marauder – Escort and ship assist tug to serve small and large US ports
Metairie, Louisiana-based towage company Maritime Partners has taken delivery of Marauder, the first escort tug in a new series ordered by the company from Master Boat Builders of Coden, Alabama.
Master Boat Builders President Garrett Rice said that Marauder and her seven sisters will be capable of escort and berthing/unberthing assistance, thus covering operations in both small and large ports.
Deliveries of all eight tugs in the series are scheduled to be completed by 2027. Titan, the second tug in the series, is nearing completion and will be handed over within the third quarter of this year.
All eight were designed by Canadian naval architecture firm Robert Allan Ltd.
Stable and manoeuvrable platform
Marauder has a length of 88 feet (27 metres), a beam of 43 feet (13 metres), a depth of 19.5 feet (5.94 metres), a deadweight of 207, a gross tonnage of 396, and accommodation for up to six crewmembers.
Rice said that the new tug was designed from the outset to be highly versatile, ensuring a balance between stability and escort performance so that a range of customer requirements can be satisfied by just one platform.
Fitted out for firefighting duties
Two Caterpillar 3516E diesel engines that each produce 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) at 1,800 rpm will drive two Steerprop 3,000mm fixed-pitch, four-bladed propellers housed in Z-drives. This arrangement will deliver a maximum speed of 13 knots and a bollard pull in excess of 90 tonnes.
The deck equipment includes a Markey Machinery DEPCF-52 75hp (56kW) electric hawser winch, though this can be easily replaced with a Markey DESF-48A 100hp (75kW) escort winch if needed. The tug is also equipped with two Furuno radars and a dedicated pump and two monitors mounted just outside the wheelhouse for external firefighting.
The tug’s tank capacities are 24,000 gallons (91,000 litres) for fuel oil, 2,000 gallons (7,600 litres) for freshwater, and 1,500 gallons (5,700 litres) for diesel exhaust fluid.
Construction of Marauder was undertaken in compliance with American Bureau of Shipping and US Coast Guard Subchapter M requirements.
