Crowley Maritime Confirms $236 Million Order for Four ATB Units

Crowley Maritime has announced a $236 million deal with VT Halter Marine for four double-hull ATB newbuildings. The four 185,000-barrel units will follow six other units already under construction. The first pair, the tug-barge combo Pacific Reliance/650-1, was christened in March, with remaining deliveries scheduled through the end of 2010. Crowley’s ATB fleet will eventually consist of 14 vessels, made up of four 155,000-barrel and ten 185,000-barrel ATBs.



Crowley also announced that the first 10 ATBs had all been chartered and the 650 series had been extended to meet additional demand for this class of vessel. Articulated tug and barge units are fast becoming a mainstay of the commercial, US flag Jones Act markets. Construction costs can be as much as 30% less than conventional tank vessels and an ATB carries a smaller crew, allowing significant savings in lower crew costs. Beyond this, about half of the current Jones Act product tanker fleet is due to be withdrawn from service by 2015, as mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. An ATB is a unit which has an articulated, or hinged, connection system between the tug and barge, allowing movement in one axis or plane in the critical area of fore and aft pitch.



Other operators, such as Maritrans, have long employed the ATB’s in their coastwise fleets. Maritrans is currently building another three such units at Bender Shipbuilding. Crowley says that the four tugs being built under the new contract will be interchangeable with the other tugs in the company’s ATB fleet. The 185,000-barrel barges will be substantially identical to those currently under construction.