Crowley upgrades LA fleet with first US RApport 2500 tugboat

HERCULES | Brusco Tug & Barge/Crowley Maritime, Jacksonville, Fla.

- Casey Conley

The RApport 2400-series tug-boats developed by Robert Allan Ltd. have earned their keep around the world. Now, Crowley Maritime has put the first U.S.-built RApport 2500-series vessel to work in Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest container ports in the United States.

Crowley chartered the 6,008hp tug from Brusco Tug & Barge of Longview, Wash. Diversified Marine of Portland, Ore., built the vessel, originally named Noydena. It left the shipyard around April 1, 2020, before making its way to Los Angeles later in the spring. Crowley renamed it Hercules to honor an oceangoing Red Stack Fleet tugboat acquired in the early 1900s. The newbuild is the company’s first ship-assist tug equipped with Tier 4 propulsion.

The 82-by-40-foot Hercules has Caterpillar engines paired with Cat z-drives. The electric Markey hawser winch on the bow facilitates efficient ship handling, while the towing bitt on the stern provides some additional flexibility as work arises around the port.

“It is fuel-efficient, while also being able to handle the big tankers coming in, given it pulled 88 tons ahead and 86 astern,” said Porter Sesnon, general manager of ship assist and escort for Crowley Maritime. “It’s nimble and small enough to maneuver the containerships around both harbors.”

The RApport 2500 design evolved from Robert Allan Ltd.’s time-tested RApport series dating back almost a generation. The 2400-series tugs — themselves based on Cates-series tugs designed for C.H. Cates and Sons of North Vancouver, British Columbia, between the 1960s and 1980s — were among the first ASD tugs operating in North America. The vessels have a flush deck and small house, and are known for being nimble, responsive, cost effective and plenty capable.