With new addition, McAllister completes powerful tug fleet expansion

A powerful, low-emissions escort tug has entered service on the US east coast completing a newbuilding series for a leading North American owner

McAllister Towing finished its latest newbuilding campaign, adding the high-powered, green-propulsion escort tug Capt Jim McAllister.

It is the fourth 30.5-m tug Eastern Shipbuilding has built for McAllister to use to handle large container ships at ports along the US eastern seaboard. They are the most powerful escort tugs in the McAllister Towing fleet.

Each of the tugs in this series have propulsion that complies with US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 emission requirements.

Capt Jim McAllister has 12.2-m beam and bollard pull of around 80 tonnes. This comes from total propulsion power of 5,050 kW.

This is delivered by a pair of Caterpillar-supplied CAT 3516E main engines (EPA Tier 4) that drive twin Schottel SRP4000 Rudderpropellers with fixed-pitch propellers.

Markey Machinery supplied winches for the bow and stern of Capt Jim McAllister for towing ships from the fore and aft of the tug.

Eastern Shipbuilding delivered Capt Jim McAllister on 16 August and the tug set sail to provide escort services in Charleston on 20 August 2019.

It is at the forefront of ship-docking tugs on the US east coast, McAllister Towing vice president and general manager Steven Kicklighter said.

Capt Jim McAllister was required in Charleston because of the larger container ships using terminal facilities in the port. “We are proud to bring the newest level of service to our customers in Charleston – Capt Jim McAllister will make a huge difference here,” said Capt Kicklighter.

“We are receiving 12,000-14,000-TEU container ships on an almost daily basis,” he continued. “This tug, with its capabilities, will be able to safely handle these ships and even larger ones with exceptional control and power.”

Capt Jim McAllister is the fourth in the series of tug newbuildings. The previous tugs in this series include Ava M McAllister, which entered service on 31 March 2019. The first, Brian McAllister, was built and completed by Horizon Shipbuilding in Q3 2017. The second, Rosemary McAllister, was built by Eastern and entered service in June 2018.

Capt Jim McAllister particulars

Owner: McAllister Towing

Builder: Eastern Shipbuilding

Designer: Jensen

Class: ABS

Type: escort

Length, oa: 30.5 m

Breadth: 12.1 m

Hull depth: 5 m

Total power: 5,050 kW

Main engines: 2 x Caterpillar 3516E

Propulsion: 2 x Schottel SRP-510 Z-drives

Gensets: 3 x Caterpillar C7.1

Fire-fighting: FFS SEP150x200HD fire pump

Winches: Markey Machinery