Crescent Towing tested FiFi class fire-fighting systems on newbuild escort tug Angus R Cooper II in the US (source: Crescent Towing)
Ship handling at a major US southern port has been enhanced with the addition of a new Z-drive tugboat with an escort winch and exhaust aftertreatment system
Crescent Towing took delivery of Angus R Cooper II in Q1 2024 from Mobile, Alabama-headquartered shipbuilder Blakeley BoatWorks to assist ships operating in the Port of Savannah, Georgia.
This 28-m escort tug has a beam of 12 m, a draught of 6 m and 4,470 kW of installed power coming from two Caterpillar 3516E main engines, compliant with US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 4 emissions standards, each driving one Kongsberg US255 Z-drive thruster with a fixed-pitch propeller in a nozzle.
Angus R Cooper II, named after the chairman and chief executive of parent company Cooper Group, was designed by Crowley Engineering Services and classed by ABS as an A-1 towing and fire-fighting escort vessel for full ocean service. It can store 167,289 litres of fuel oil and 63,830 litres of portable water.
“The Port of Savannah continues to experience transformative growth and our deployment of Angus R Cooper II, our most technologically advanced tugboat, marks another important step in our continued commitment to best support the port’s growth and ensure the safest and most efficient ship-assist operations,” said Crescent Towing executive vice president and chief commercial officer Keith Kettenring.
Cooper subsidiary Blakeley BoatWorks managing director Swathin Kannalath said Angus R Cooper II was “the first of a series of world-class ship-assist towing vessels that Blakeley BoatWorks is building for Crescent Towing.”
Fire Fighting Systems supplied the FiFi1 system including a dedicated pump drive off the main engine and two remotely operated fire monitors, each capable of propelling 19,798 litres per minute at 145 psi to a distance of 120 m, and it has a deluge system prevent tug from catching fire during fire-fighting.
Crescent port engineer and newbuilding manager Perry Gagliano said this tug has two John Deer generators, each generating 99 kW and a class 2 Markey towing winch with 122 m of 24-cm diameter rope.
Crescent Towing operates on the Mississippi River and in the ports of Mobile, Alabama and Savannah, Georgia, with a fleet of 25 tugboats. Blakeley BoatWorks has a 900-tonne floating drydock, 660-tonne travel lift, and four covered fabrication shops for newbuild construction and repairing towing vessels and barges.
