SLDSC orders ice class CPP Z-drive tug

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has awarded a contract for the construction of an ice class, CPP Z-drive tug to Gulf Island Fabrication (GIFI).

The multi-purpose tug will provide icebreaking and ice-management services on the US-Canadian St Lawrence Seaway, handle aids to navigation, and push SLSDC’s two buoy and gate lifter barges.

The 35.9-metre steel tug will also be capable of secondary roles in ship assist, firefighting and pollution response.

Powered by two controllable-pitch Z-drive propulsion units, each driven by a high-speed diesel engine and generating approximately 66 tonnes of bollard pull, the vessel is also designed for operation with an unmanned machinery space.

Deck machinery will include a heavy-duty deck crane, a stern roller and shark jaws to allow the tug to handle buoys on its aft working deck.

Gulf Island Shipyards has contracted Technology Associates for the completion of functional and production design.

Delivery is expected in the second or third quarter of 2019.