Ship & Boat International: eNews April 2018
Texas-based builder Conrad Orange Shipyard, a part of Conrad Industries, has delivered the first of three articulated tug /barge (ATB) units to US marine transportation specialist Vane Brothers. Christened Assateague, after a barrier island located within the Virginia / Maryland borders, the tug has a length of 33.5m, a breadth of 11.6m and accommodation capacity for 10 crewmen. She was designed by Texan naval architect firm Castleman Maritime and classed by ABS, which has granted her ABS-A1 Tug, AMS and ABCU notations.
Assateague is powered by two Cummins QSK60M Tier 3 engines, each rated 1,641kW. These drive a pair of four-bladed, 2.6m bronze propellers, mounted on 241mm shafts, via Reintjes WAF 873 gears with 7.087:1 reduction. Cummins has also provided the tug with twin 125kW QSB7-DM generators and a 60kW emergency generator.
Following delivery, Assateague was assigned to Vane Brothers’ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based ‘Charlie’ fleet, where she has been paired with the 80,000-barrel-capacity barge Double Skin-801. This barge was designed by Bristol Harbor Group and built at Conrad Amelia in Louisiana, another Conrad Industries subsidiary. Double Skin-801 measures 123.4m x 22.6m, connects to Assateague via a Beacon Finland JAK 700 coupling system and features a gangway, provided by Schoelhorn-Albrecht, to enable crew movement between tug and barge.
Conrad Orange is now working on the remaining two sister tugs in the series – to be named Chincoteague and Wachapreague, after a Virginian barrier island and coastal town, respectively – while Conrad Amelia completes their accompanying sister barges, Double Skin-802 and Double Skin-803.
