The Dino left Bemberton yesterday with the USS Independence in tow for Brownsville TX via Cape Horn.
ETA to Brownsville via their AIS info: June 1.
This should be a pretty interesting tow to follow via MarineTraffic.com.
So now the bayou mudboat companies are underbidding and taking towing jobs away from the actual tugboat companies. That’s a shame.
That thought also went through my head. I think Smith Maritime/Tradewinds did the Constellation tow. Foss did one as well not to long ago.
We’ll see how this tow goes for them.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;196104]So now the bayou mudboat companies are underbidding and taking towing jobs away from the actual tugboat companies. That’s a shame.[/QUOTE]
so if that vessel is not working in the offshore then it is no longer a large OSV hence should have all UL licenses aboard and all bridge personnel with ocean towing endorsements…
what makes me think that the officers are all the usual criminals who if they have towed anything ever before it was some rig in the Gulf?
on top of that, they’ll be rounding Cape Stiff in the early winter…what possibly could go wrong in this scenario?
As usual the failing gcaptain forum peanut gallery has it all wrong. They are mad that customers would rather hire my state of the art equipment operated by the best crews in the world. They are still upset about me winning a contract bid in their own back yard I wasn’t supposed to win. Sad!
Wow, around the Horn? They must be getting a day rate haha!
[QUOTE=c.captain;196110]so if that vessel is not working in the offshore then it is no longer a large OSV hence should have all UL licenses aboard and all bridge personnel with ocean towing endorsements…
[/QUOTE]
Wow, good point interesting. Would be a shame if the Coast Guard checked into this…
A little more unverified info I was able to pick up…
They are going non stop, no fueling, no crew change. The boat had its chain lockers and mud tanks converted into fuel tanks, partially for when it was supposed to be working up in Alaska and partially for this trip.
I wonder how much fuel that monster can hold.
[QUOTE=KrustySalt;196114]Wow, around the Horn? They must be getting a day rate haha![/QUOTE]
Or 50 cents a mile.
Well, comrade …Last time I checked this is still 'Murica, and there is such a thing as free enterprise. Maybe the “actual tugboat companies” need to sharpen their pencils?
Sharpen their pencil? How would a capable profit seeking my tug company compete with a cost avoiding mudboat company bidding on work it is not equipped or qualified to do, that just wants to avoid the cost of cold stacking an obsolete boat.
It’s bad enough that the Gulf mudboat business has collapsed, now they are collapsing the Pacific tugboat business too.
A good question has been raised about the DIno no longer operating as an OSV, which triggers the requirement for officers with unlimited licenses and oceans towing endorsements. Hopefully, the USCGs phones are already ringing with tip offs.
We saw what happened the last time this same mudboat company tried its inexperienced hand at towing in Alaska: it was Kulluk on the rocks, and an unfortunate end to Arctic drilling.
Now, with virtually no ocean towing experience they are trying a winter tow around Cape Horn. We’ll see if they get lucky this time, or if a very predictable disaster happens again.
Does a June 1st ETA sound way too optimistic to anyone else?
Does the navy still own its decommissioned ships? Just curious as to why MSC ocean tugs weren’t used. Transferred to MARAD? A private or public non-profit? Can’t find any info on that.
I would have to say that boat is very equipped… I’m not sure how you can say it’s not. And do you really think they didn’t crew that boat properly? You know they’re under a microscope after the Alaska screw up. I wonder how much wire they have onboard.
The navy fleet tugs probably don’t have the range and power for a tow like this. I think the USNS Apache only has 20 cylinder EMDs in it, 8000hp or so. Dino like is in the 12000+ range.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;196104]So now the bayou mudboat companies are underbidding and taking towing jobs away from the actual tugboat companies. That’s a shame.[/QUOTE]
SEACOR is doing it too.
[QUOTE=Bayrunner;196106]That thought also went through my head. I think Smith Maritime/Tradewinds did the Constellation tow. Foss did one as well not to long ago.[/QUOTE]
Foss did the FORRESTAL and the CONSTELLATION and Crosby towed the RANGER.
The chief mate is a mud boat guy who has used the large sob license loopholes to get his unlimited master, and hasn’t towed anything since his internships at school. Unless the whispers are completely wrong. He’s worked for ECO since graduation.
Why go around the Horn? The Independence’s dimensions should allow it to transit the new Panamax. They must be getting a day rate or trying to squeeze as much as they can out of a fixed price contract.
My prayers are with the poor slobs going through that winter garden spot towing an aircraft carrier.
If I was a bus driver, i’d take the shortcut or wait till next southern hemisphere summer.
Signet towed that one of Providence.