First Rotortug arrives on American shores

Harbor tugboats with three z-drives were first introduced almost two decades ago. The first of these so-called Rotortugs has finally reached North American shores.

 

- Brian Gauvin

Seabulk Towing took delivery of Trident, the first of three planned Advanced Rotortugs (ART), in January. Master Boat Builders of Bayou La Batre, Ala., built the vessel using a design from Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C.

Seabulk assigned Trident — named for the weapon favored by the sea god Poseidon — to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The second tug, Triton, named after Poseidon’s messenger, is scheduled for delivery in late spring. A third tug, aptly named Trinity, is due in December.

“This was a proven design internationally, and we believed this concept could best service the growing LNG industry as well as accommodate the larger vessel sizes calling at our ports of operation,” said Rick Groen, COO of Seabulk Towing, a subsidiary of Seacor Holdings Inc.

Naval architect Robert Allan, chairman of his namesake firm, considers the arrival of ART vessels in North America a potential game changer. “And I think it will make people stand up and take notice of what isn’t even a new development in the industry, but it will be a new development here.”

Robert Allan Ltd., under an exclusive agreement with Rotortug B.V. of the Netherlands, designed a series of ART triple z-drive vessels, which are typically defined by their bollard pull, length and, in the U.S., with the “US” suffix to distinguish them from the metric designations used everywhere else in the world. Hence, Trident is designated ART 80-98US due to its 80 tons of bollard pull and a 98.5-foot length.Allan estimates there are about 50 Rotortugs operating around the world.