 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
March, 2008 Moran Tug Service Signs Contract with Cameron LNG January, 2008 Moran Commences Operations in Two North Carolina Ports January, 2008 Moran Acquires a Tugboat Simulator from MarineSafety International April, 2007 Once Again, Moran Towing of Texas Receives the OSPRA Award January, 2007 Continued Growth for Moran LNG ship-docking services December, 2006 Moran Towing and Compania Maritima Pacifico Sign Long Term Marine Services Agreement November, 2006 Paul R. Tregurtha Voted "Maritime Man of the Year" by Massachusetts Maritime Academy November, 2006 Moran's Participation in U.S. Coast Guard Demonstration Earns Citation for Merit October, 2006 Expansive Tugs Area Maritime Company Adds Boats to its Fleet News Article Archive |
"Tugmen" Keep Fleet Mobile By JOSN Kary Favell ON BOARD USS GEORGE WASHINGTON -- Tugboats can bring melancholy or elation to Sailor's journeys to and from sea. Whether it's a two-week stint for sea-trials or a six-month deployment, "tugmen," the sailors manning a tugboat, are the going away and homecoming escorts for USS George Washington (CVN-73) Sailors. "It's an amazing feeling. Seeing Sailors' families on the pier when they're leaving or coming back off a six-month deployment will bring a tear to anybody's eye," said Scott Glasier, mate on the Karen Moran. "But homecomings are the best. It's great to see how excited the Sailors are to see their families again." Karen is one of eight in the MORAN fleet servicing Naval Station Norfolk. Her crew consists of three tugmen: Glasier, Steven Carmine, the captain and Greg Williams, the deck/utlityman. Together they form a family-like team dedicated to keeping Navy ships like GW safe and mobile. We're a pretty tight-knit group here on Karen. It's like having a family away from home," Carmine said. "That closeness is important when you're putting in long hours trying to make sure Sailors get home and out to sea safely." Safe transit in and out of a port isn't the only way tugboats protect GW Sailors and GW itself. The MORAN fleet serves as an auxiliary fire fighting team both in port and out to sea. The boat is equipped with three hoses that can spray up to 4,500 gallons of unprocessed seawater per minute. "Tugboats have an engine dedicated to drawing water for firefighting," Williams said. "We're always ready to go if a fire breaks out on a ship or pier." Like GW Sailors, the tugmen on these feisty ship shepherds spend a lot of time preparing and training in emergency fire-fighting techniques. They also have man overboard drills, abandon ship drills and a hefty schedule of maintenance to keep up with when they're not pulling ships to and away from piers. "There's plenty to do out here, and it's always something different," Williams said. "It's easy to put in an 11 or 12 hour day with so much going on." It's easy to imagine just how much goes on during the week. Eight tugboats are in charge of pulling every single ship and barge in and out of the Naval station. It takes four or five tugs about one hour to pull GW in and out of port. "We usually use about four boats to pull a carrier, but that's just to keep everything going in the right direction," Carmine said. That doesn't mean that each tug isn't worth its salt when it comes to "pulling its weight." "A tugboat slightly larger than Karen could pull GW out to sea all by itself," Carmine said. "They're powerful boats." How powerful are they? Imagine 4,000 horses packed together and pulling in the same direction. The two engines support a load of 2,300 gallons of water and over 48,000 gallons of diesel. The engine spaces make up the vast majority of Karen MORAN, two-thirds of which is under water. All of this power adds up to allow some impressive maneuvering capabilities. "The boat uses two nearly nine foot diameter wheels to steer," Carmine said. "She can go in any direction, including about four or five knots sideways." "[Karen] can go the same speed backwards that she does forwards, about 15 knots," Williams added. With all this power at their command and all the work to be done, tugmen might seem a pretty serious bunch. Even though jobs are executed quickly and efficiently, the crew of Karen Moran never loses its sense of humor. "You have to keep laughing," Carmine said. "You'd go crazy out here if you didn't have fun with it. We're always playing jokes on each other and giving each other a hard time. That's part of what makes this sport so much fun." "When Sailors come in off a six-month deployment, I'll tell them jokes and bring them cookies in my turtle head hat," said Williams referring to the plastic camouflage helmet he wears to get a laugh out of homeward bound Sailors. "To see them having fun and so excited on their way home makes the whole day worthwhile." |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50 Locust Avenue | New Canaan, CT 06840-4737 USA | Tel: 203.442.2800 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||