300th Tug Brokered by Marcon Int'l

Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Washington reported the sale of the U.S. flag, twin screw tug “Pacific Patriot” (ex-Pacific King) from Kirby Marine Offshore to U.S. West Coast buyers on private terms.

 

This was the 300th tug brokered by Marcon and 1,351st sale or charter since the sale of the vintage and some would say very “classic” 1950s built, 135’ supply boat “Low Tide” from Tidewater in the early 1980s.

Built in 1980 by Main Iron Works in Bayou Blue, Louisiana, the 1,700BHP “Pacific Patriot” measures 77’ x 26.5’ x 11’ depth of hull and is powered by twin CAT D398SCACs driving fixed pitch propellers in kort nozzles, developing a bollard pull of 26.4 tons and free running speed of 12kn. Towing gear includes an Intercon single drum SD-150 winch with a capacity of 2000’ of 1.5” wire driven by a GM 4-71 auxiliary engine. Vessel had been laid up for several years at the time of sale. Marcon acted as sole broker in the transaction and handled numerous sales and purchases over the years for the Seller.

“Pacific Patriot” was one of seven “Super D” class, advanced-design, medium size tugs, and originally built for PacTow, a Dillingham Maritime company, for service in Long Beach and San Diego harbors. This class included the “Benjamin Foss”, “David Foss” and “Edith Foss” built for Foss Launch & Tug, also a subsidiary of Dillingham in the 80s. The “Super D’s” were a larger, more powerful version of the 1960s 1,200HP, 66’ “D” class tugs – and according to Michael Skalley’s “Foss Ninety Years of Towboating” first published in 1986, have for that time period, “well-appointed, spacious accommodations with the messroom-galley on deck – easy access at coffee times”, which was apparently important to Seattle sailors even then, nine years after Starbucks opened their first store.

To date this year, Marcon International, Inc. has handled twenty-seven sales and charters including four tugs totaling 11,600BHP. Marcon has for the past 33 years specialized as shipbrokers in the offshore petroleum, towing and marine construction industries. Since the first sale, the company sold or chartered over 933,195BHP in tugs, 34 pushboats (77,750HP), 852,610dwt ocean deck barges, 153,065dwt ocean hopper barges, 7.626 million bbl capacity in ocean and inland tank barges (over 1,000,000dwt), 98 crew & pilot boats, 174 supply, utility & tug supply and 59 survey, seismic & support vessels, in addition to others. A full history of past sales, references and background is available on request or can be downloaded from Marcon’s website.