Horizon wins tug contract

Horizon Shipbuilding in Bayou La Batre, USA, has won a $80 million contract to build up to nine 43 metre tugs designed to push barges full of refined oil products on the nation’s inland river transport system. The three-year deal will mean hiring about 120 new workers at the Bayou facility, said J.V. Collier, vice president of Horizon Shipbuilding. According to the contract, all nine are to be built by the first quarter of 2011.

Horizon signed the deal last week with Florida Marine Transporters (FMT) of Mandeville, La., to build a series of what the company calls a ?new era? 6,000-horsepower, crew-friendly tugboat. FMT has about 50 vessels, mostly barge-pushing tugs that are outfitted with 2,000- or 3,000-horsepower engines and commonly push two to eight barges at a time. The newbuildings, designed by John W. Gilbert Associates of Hingham, Mass., will be able to push as many as a dozen barges at a time.

Each conventional barge carries about 30,000 barrels of refined oil products, such as diesel, gasoline or jet fuel. The new tugs will also differ from others in many less obvious ways, generally to be appreciated by their crews. For instance, the engineer’s office overlooks the engine room to allow him quick access. Also, the generators will be enclosed within a separate room rather than installed in the engine room. That way, the crew won’t be assaulted by the ear-splitting noise of the generators as they work to repair a main engine.