Has anyone heard what Crowley is doing with their former Valdez fleet, and the Jacksonville tugs replaced by the new Con-Ro ships?
I’d be very interested to know this info as well, thanks for asking. Chouest contract is for 10 years, correct? Why did Crowley lose this gig?
I just saw a picture yesterday of their Seattle dock. Tied up 3 deep.
Yes, I believe the chouest contract is for 10 years.
Crowley lost out due to Chouest offering brand new equipment at a lower rate than Crowley was offering for 20 yr. old equipment.
Rumor is they just under bid Moran on a 5-yr. Navy ship assist contract on the east coast as well.
Norfolk?
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Well since the INVADER class boats are now all over 40 years old that maybe Crowley will start retiring them. A highly successful class of tugs but about as antiquated a design now as the MIKI tugs were in the 70s which the INVADERs were built to replace.
I do know that some of the Invader tugs have been sold. If I am not mistaken, there are a few in west Africa these days, under new ownership. Simple boats, yes, but certainly well designed and built. Antiquated in that they are not Z drive or DP capable.
One of the red hulls was in Anacortes last time we passed through Guemes Channel.
Here is five of them leaving for Nigeria onboard the HLV Swan in 2012:
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I rode the Invaders years ago, damn fine at pulling, that’s for sure. Too bad the crew were an afterthought lol. I woke up on the ceiling more than once, and sometime when plotting the deck would just drop out from under you and the boat would do a snap roll. All you could do was curl up and protect your head, because the bulkhead was coming your way.
It would not surprise me if the long term plans at Crowley will be to get out of the tug market altogether. Does anyone know if they are disposing of the 580 and 720 RoRo barges?
I heard they were going to scrap at least some of them.
I still have a couple of scars from some low level levitation episodes. . . . but that is tugboatin’. . . . .
The last word I got was that the two big Voith boats are going to be put to work in Puget Sound. They’re selling the 720s (already sold at least one) and they’re planning to use the 580s and Invaders for spot work around the islands. The Jacksonville tug office is being almost entirely laid off in a few months and a number of East coast tug guys are being laid off soon as well.
I worked a couple of jobs with the Ocean Sun and Ocean Sky and was very impressed. Plenty of power and they seem to handle well.
Ocean wave has been tied up at tioga in philly for almost two weeks now
Doing some maintenance and annuals.
Gotcha
Invader Class. A picture’s worth a thousand words.
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I remember you posting this on Instagram or Facebook years ago, this is priceless . Saw the adventure come into Philly the other day and explorer is still tied up here. Would love to tie up next to one and get a tour