Handysize Tug Addresses Niche U.S. Market

TUGZ International, LLC, an owner-charterer of the Z Class, 4,000 hp multipurpose U.S. flag reverse tractor tugs designed by Jensen Maritime Consultants, Seattle, is introducing a new Jensen designed tug to fill the niche between the 2,000 - 3,000 hp tug market for harbor work, fireboats, and construction operations as well as for coastal towing. The newly designed Handysize Class describes the new tug design as just the right size, just the right power, environmentally sound, fuel efficient and versatile enough to accomplish most tug jobs at the lowest operating cost.

This series of tugs will be built at TUGZ’s affiliate Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio. The shipyard recently opened new state-of-the-art facilities for tug and barge construction. Not new to shipbuilding or to tug operations, some of the The Great Lakes Group of transportation companies have been around since the turn of the 19th century and its tugs operate on all the Great Lakes, all the coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska. For many years it also owned and operated a Gulf shipyard too. The Great Lakes Shipyard will build the Handysize Class tugs for sale, or for lease-purchase or charter through its affiliate TUGZ. Two tugs are now under construction with deliveries November 2007 and April 2008. The tugs are available as ASD’s or as nozzled Twin-Screw Conventional models for those operators whose work application makes the Z-drive unnecessary and too expensive. Some operators believe that the conventional tugs will work better in ice and in debris-filled, low, and muddy waters.