SLSDC takes delivery of ice-capable tug

The US Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) recently took delivery of its newest tug.

The Robert Allan Ltd-designed, ice-capable Seaway Guardian has completed a three-week journey through the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, and up the Atlantic seaboard from the Gulf Island Fabrication shipyards in Houma, Louisiana, where it was constructed.

Seaway Guardian will be the first new American-built tug to join the SLSDC since the Seaway opened 61 years ago. Its duties will include buoy maintenance, ice management, firefighting, and general emergency response.

The tug will replace the 62-year-old Robinson Bay, which the SLSDC will retain as back-up vessel for the foreseeable future.