PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Crowley signs contract to build new vessels

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Vessel Management Services subsidiary signed a contract in September with VT Halter Marine Inc. and Dakota Creek Shipyards to build three articulated tug-barge, 330,000-barrel tank vessels, the largest in the company’s history and the fastest in their class.

The new vessels will be delivered in yearly intervals between the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2013. 

VT Halter Marine will construct the barges, which will have 78 percent more capacity than Crowley’s 650-class vessels (185,000-barrel capacity) in its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.  Dakota Creek will build the 16,320-horsepower tugs in its Anacortes, Wash., shipyard.

Once received, the three new Jones Act ATBs (Legacy/750-1, Legend/750-2 and Liberty/750-3) will be operated in the U.S. coastwise trade by Crowley’s petroleum services segment. These three new vessels will bring Crowley’s total ATB fleet to 17, including four 155,000-barrel and ten 185,000-barrel ATBs.

“These ATBs are being constructed to be some of the largest and certainly the fastest in the trade,” said Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, Technical Services. “Not only will they be able to carry 330,000 barrels of product safely, but we also expect them to do so quickly - to the tune of 15.1 knots.”

The new ATBs will feature the latest systems technology and double-hull construction for maximum safety and reliability. Not only will the units have the capability of transporting refined products, but they will also be able to carry heated cargoes.

The 750-Class barges will be 45,000 deadweight tons, 600 feet in length, 105-feet, six-inches in breadth and 54-feet, three-inches in depth. The fully loaded draft will be 35 feet.

The tug will be one of the first of its kind built to ABS R2 classification which provides a higher level of redundancy than found on a standard product tanker or ATB. There will be a bulkhead dividing the port and starboard engine rooms that allow the vessel to continue to operate on one engine in the event of a catastrophic incident such as a fire in the other engine room.

The tugs meet all SOLAS and ABS criteria, and have a foam-capable fire monitor; twin-screw Wartsila electronically controlled engines generating a total of 16,320 horsepower; a noise reduction package and other upgrades to increase crew comfort. The communication and navigation equipment is among the most technologically advanced in the industry today.