Tug and Salvage Vessel News Roundup | March 9 – Deliveries to Australia and Trinidad, ammonia-fuelled concept and more

New tugs have been delivered to operators in Trinidad and Tobago and Western Australia. An American barge handling company places an order for a new pusher tug while construction begins on a future US Navy salvage and rescue ship. Finally, work is underway on retrofitting an existing tug to enable it to run on ammonia as a low-emission alternative to conventional fuels.

Western Australia towage company welcomes newbuild tug to fleet

Australian family-owned company Mackenzie Marine and Towage has added a newbuild tug to its fleet.

Built by Sanmar Shipyards in Turkey to a design by Robert Allan Ltd, Lillian Mac is named in honour of company co-founder the late Lillian Mackenzie, who was also the grandmother of current managing director Sean Mackenzie. It will join three other tugs in providing towage support at the Port of Esperance in Western Australia.

The tug has a length of 24 metres, a beam of 12 metres, accommodations for six crewmembers, and two Caterpillar IMO Tier III engines that deliver a free running speed of 12 knots.

Lillian Mac also has a secondary firefighting capability.

Dutch yard delivers tug to Trinidad and Tobago offshore support company

Netherlands-based the Damen Shipyards Group recently delivered a new ASD tug to the National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (NEC).

Named National Energy Resilience, the newbuild has a length of 28 metres, a bollard pull of 60 tonnes, and a NOx reduction system to ensure IMO Tier III compliance.

NEC acquired the tug in response to the increase in oil and gas exploration and production in the waters of the southern Caribbean.

American Commercial Barge Line places towboat order

Indiana-based operator American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) has awarded a contract to Steiner Construction Company of Alabama for the construction of a new towboat.

The 82-foot (25-metre) vessel will be powered by two Mitsubishi EPA Tier IV engines.

Delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023. The towboat will support barge operations in the Port of Houston in Texas.

Construction begins on US Navy’s tenth Navajo-class salvage vessel

Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards has cut the first steel for the future USNS Muscogee Creek Nation, a Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship (T-ATS) ordered by the US Navy.

The vessel is the tenth overall Navajo-class T-ATS as well as the fifth in the class to be built by Bollinger. Construction is underway at Bollinger’s newly acquired facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

As with its sisters, the future Muscogee Creek Nation will have ocean-going tug, salvage, and rescue capabilities. Other missions will include oil spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide area search and surveillance.

Development underway on ammonia-fuelled tug

Brooklyn, New York-based technology company Amogy has unveiled its plans to develop a zero-emission tug powered by ammonia fuel.

The project will use an existing harbour tug originally built in 1957. The tug’s diesel generators will be replaced with a 1MW ammonia propulsion system consisting of a hybrid fuel cell and electric motors.

Amogy expects to complete work on the tug before the end of 2023. Full commercial operations will then commence early the following year.