Page 44: of Marine News Magazine (February 2020)

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FEATURE BOAT testing double steering rudders with Ingram for about two conceptual, detail and production design, we solved every years and now has approximately 100 ordered in 2020. challenge thrown our way. We feel this to be the most en-

Furlong said, “We wanted the durability of a conven- gineered vessel to ? oat the rivers of the U.S.” tional vessel with both stellar northbound and southbound The ? rst of the three 170’ x 50’ newbuilds is on track to performance. At the same time, we fully acknowledge the be delivered by July this year, followed by the second due superior maneuverability that Z-drives offer. With all of for handover in December and third in Spring 2021. By this in mind, we are convinced that this conventional, kort the time the trio is delivered, HFL will be running about nozzled setup with the double steering rudder arrange- 20 vessels in its ? eet (including a CT Marine-deigned ment gets us the best of both worlds.” 4,000-horsepower newbuild series under construction at “The only Tier III engines we could get were 2,000 Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala.).

horsepower each, forcing us to go with a triple screw de- “These vessels, along with the others we are building, sign,” Furlong continued. “The triple screw arrangement represent a signi? cant capital investment. Moreover, add- is a blessing in disguise as it adds increased capability and ing brand new, large vessels like this to our ? eet make a redundancy especially for tank barge trades. These vessels statement to our existing and future mariners,” Furlong are designed and built to run the lower Mississippi River, said. “Building the boat is just the start of the process. but they are set up to work on locking rivers as well.” These vessels represent our continued investment in our

Asked about any design challenges overcome, Townsend steersman program and our ability to promote from within said, “The entire project, as any, is a challenge. It takes the organization and recruit from the outside. Without a very little to throw a large wrench in the works, but with professional crew and the right shoreside team towboats the nearly 25,000 engineering hours that we put into the are just a hunk of steel.”

Build activity is progressing at C&C Marine and Repair.

Credit: C&C Marine and Repair

February 2020 44 MN