Crowley Maritime christens third ocean class tugboat

July 25, 2014
As part of its new vessel build program, Crowley Maritime Corp. has christened the third of four new tugboats in the ocean class series – Ocean Sky – in Houston.

Offshore staff

HOUSTON – As part of its new vessel build program, Crowley Maritime Corp. has christened the third of four new tugboats in the ocean class series – Ocean Sky – in Houston. The ceremony welcomed the third dynamic positioning (DP) tugboat to the company’s expanded ocean towing fleet.

TheOcean Sky, which features DP-2 technology, is part of a four-vessel family of tugs suited to work with Crowley's new 455 series high-deck strength barges, which measure 400 ft long by 105 ft wide (122 m by 32 m). Crowley’s ocean class tugs are outfitted for long-range, high-capacity ocean towing; rig moves; platform and FPSO tows; emergency response, and firefighting.

All four of the ocean-class tugboats are designed to have a minimum bollard pull of 150 metric tons (165 tons) and a range of 12,600 nautical miles at 15 knots free running. They are outfitted with twin-screw, controllable-pitch propellers in nozzles, and high lift rudders for a combination of performance and fuel economy.

The fourth and last planned vessel in the series,Ocean Sun, is slated for formal christening in Lake Charles, Louisiana, during mid-August.

07/25/2014