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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 |
Expansive Tugs Area Maritime Company Adds Boats to its Fleet New Canaan-based Moran Towing Corp. is expanding its fleet by signing a contract with an East Boothbay, Maine, shipyard for the construction of six new tug boats from 2007 to 2009. Moran said the six vessels will most likely be 92-foot-long ship docking tugs, but the company has the right to change its order to meet other requirements. Construction of the six tugs will follow Moran's launch of two 92-foot, 5,100-horsepower tugs and two 121-foot tugs now under construction at Washburn & Doughty Shipyard in East Boothbay. They will allow the company to retire some of its older vessels. "This will give us about 90 tug boats," said Paul Tregurtha, Moran's chairman and chief executive officer, who expects to hire more than 30 more crew members to man the vessels. "We hire and train our crews in anticipation of new equipment. These are hightech pieces of equipment." Normally, tug boats are manned by four-person crews. The new tugs will be assigned to company port locations at the New York; Jacksonville, Fla; Norfolk, Va., and Charleston, S.C., harbors and at an unspecified port in Texas. Some of them will be involved in a new venture for Moran, docking liquefied natural gas carriers. While many will have the task of maneuvering large ships through busy harbors, others will be assigned to Moran's new fleet of double-hulled oil barges. "A few will be for new oil barges we're building," Tregurtha said. "All of our barges will be double-hulled by the end of the year," Tregurtha said. "We'll have eight double hulls by the end of the year and three more in 2007-2008." Called integrated tug barges, they use articulated coupler technology for added maneuverability as they carry oil between terminals along the east and gulf coasts. Integrated tug barges are essential carriers of petroleum products along the U.S. coasts, and they also play a role in off-loading or lightering oil from ocean-going tankers, said Xavier Cronin, senior editor in the oil division of Platt's Oilgram News, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc. When the tug boats are delivered, Moran will operate the largest fleet of tractor tugs in the United States. Most of its fleet comprises recently built tugs of 4,000 to 6,700 horsepower. Tregurtha declined to reveal how much the new tugs are costing the company. Tugs, however, typically cost $6 million to $10 million each, he said. Moran's purchase of 10 new tugs and the company's move to all double-hull barges impressed Cronin. "Ten vessels is pretty significant," he said. The privately held New Canaan company has always been a maritime leader, said James Lawrence, chairman of Marine Money Magazine in Stamford, a publisher of ship finance news, data and analysis. "It's not surprising that they have a fleet that's almost totally double-hulled," he said. "The fact that they're ordering new tugs - they've just committed to another 50 years in the business." 
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50 Locust Avenue | New Canaan, CT 06840-4737 USA | Tel: 203.442.2800 |
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