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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 |
December, 2004 Retired Moran tug now a training vessel for students Moran Towing has put one of its older tugboats to a higher use with the recent donation of the tug Fells Point to a non-profit foundation in Virginia dedicated to teaching the ways of the maritime industry to high school seniors. Fells Point, built in 1956, was donated to the newly-established Fells Point Foundation in late 2004 by Moran Towing of Virginia. The foundation has been using the tug as a training platform for a charter group of 11 high school seniors who may have an interest in getting into the maritime industry after graduation. "We've got these kids learning everything that would be required of a deckhand working on a modern tugboat," said Chip Kinsey, originator of the program who created the foundation. "It's part of the overall emphasis on workforce training that we have in many schools and community organizations," he added. Kinsey, a former tug captain with Mobil Oil and currently an educator with the Chesapeake Maritime Training Institute, took possession of the Fells Point and has enlisted a small cadre of Virginia residents who work in the maritime trades to help with maintenance and operation of the tug. Among the regular volunteer instructors is MORAN's Charles Pugh, long-time skipper of the tug Brendan Turecamo out of New York. Fells Point, powered by a single 16-cylinder Alco diesel, was originally built and operated by Curtis Bay Towing of Baltimore, which was later acquired by Moran Towing. The tug worked for many years in Baltimore and Norfolk, and she also worked for some years in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and at other Eastern Seaboard ports. She is equipped with H-bitts and a capstan aft, with smaller bitts and a staple on the foredeck. Favorite activities of students on the tug program include anything that has to do with rope, said Kinsey. "We use a nine-inch headline, and that has to be the most fun thing we teach – how to throw a line and how to make up lines on the bitts." Other topics covered include basic towing, vessel maintenance, watch standing, maritime security, marine firefighting, navigation, electronics and machinery. The Fells Point training program, which earns students two credits with the local community college in addition to high school credits, runs from September through the end of the school year. "I think these students are seriously approaching this as a possible career opportunity," said Dr. Georg Thurnau Kidd, assistant superintendent of the local school system. "There was no one entering this program just to fill out their schedule, and I know that several of them had to arrange to change their schedules in order to be included." New home for the Fells Point is the Williams Wharf Landing on the East River, off Mobjack Bay, not far from Hampton Roads. Pat Bailey, MORAN's Norfolk port captain said the company has been assisting its former tugboat and its supporters with donations of used equipment from the tug fleet. "It's quite possible we could get some good crewmembers out of this, since that whole Middle Peninsula area is known as a source of good boatmen," said Mark Vanty, general manager of MORAN's Norfolk operation. |
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50 Locust Avenue | New Canaan, CT 06840-4737 USA | Tel: 203.442.2800 |
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