New tugs have been delivered to operators in the US as construction continues on a biofuel-powered vessel ordered by a Japanese owner. The US Navy has meanwhile formally named its newest towing, salvage and rescue ship.
Vicksburg, Mississippi-based Golding Barge Line has taken delivery of a new inland pusher tug built by Steiner Shipyard of Alabama.
Alexa Golding was designed by Steiner Shipyard and Sterling Marine. She is a sister of Gage Golding, which was handed over to Golding Barge Line in 2025.
The newbuild has a length of 94 feet (29 metres), a beam of 34 feet (10 metres), a depth of 12 feet (3.7 metres), and a retractable wheelhouse that will permit safe passage underneath bridges.
Crescent Towing has announced has taken delivery of a new 6,000hp (4,500kW) Z-drive tug built by Blakeley BoatWorks, its sister company under the Cooper Group.
Named Kentucky, the tug has been added to Crescent Towing’s Mississippi River ship-assist operations.
The newbuild is the second in a series of tugs that Blakeley BoatWorks has constructed for Crescent Towing. The first vessel in the series, Angus R. Cooper II, was handed over in 2024 while the third is still under construction.
The US Navy formally named the towing, salvage and rescue ship (T-ATS) USNS Solomon Atkinson during a ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday, May 2.
Built by Austal USA, the newest Navajo-class T-ATS honours the late Solomon Atkinson, a US Navy veteran and member of the Metlakatla Indian Community.
A decorated US Navy SEAL who saw action during the Vietnam War and retired as a chief warrant officer four, Atkinson later became Mayor of Metlakatla, Alaska.
Seagate Corporation, a subsidiary of the Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), held a naming and launching ceremony for its newest tug on Wednesday, April 22.
Bisan Maru is being built by Kanagawa Dockyard. The tug will soon begin undergoing interior work and is scheduled to enter service at the Port of Mizushima in Okayama Prefecture in August of this year.
The tug will be equipped with a conventional diesel engine, though K Line said she will be the first Japanese tug to be equipped with a biofuel blender and an ultrasonic hull anti-fouling system. The company said that, when using both of these systems, the vessel’s CO2 emissions will be lower than those of conventionally powered vessels.
Louisiana shipbuilder C&C Marine and Repair laid the keels of four new hybrid escort tugs in a series ordered by Green Tug Towing (GTT).
The vessels will support LNG carrier operations at Woodside Energy’s Louisiana LNG terminal in Calcasieu Parish.
The GTT series joins a separate series of four hybrid escort tugs already under construction at C&C, bringing the yard’s active tug program to a total of eight vessels. Together, the two programs contribute to Woodside and its contractors having committed more than US$1 billion to Louisiana suppliers in support of the Louisiana LNG project.
