I know on the 750 class ATB’s at Crowley, we took pilots, and two tugs for docking. When I worked there we had a crew of 14, (capt, chief mate, 2nd mate, 3rd mate, Chief Eng, 1st Eng, 2nd Eng, 3rd Eng, 3 AB Tankerman, 2 utility, 1 cook). It was a good stable vessel. the intercon system was reliable and seemingly trouble free. She would squeak like no other once in awhile. Comparatively speaking, the state class tankers run with a crew of 20 to 21. The tankers burned far less fuel and cruised about 1-2 knots faster than a 750 class ATB, so the savings was in crewing and we could carry a little more product into shallower ports ( ie: Tampa). Talking with the intercon reps, there have been some failures of the pins, but never enough to cause the tug to come out of the notch.