Energy Freedom Widest Ever To Travel Through Welland Canal

It was a close fit for the 550-foot coal carrier Energy Freedom as the tug Gulf Majesty (shown above) squeezed the barge into Lock 4 of the Welland Canal. (See MARITIME REPORTER October 1 issue cover story.) The barge has a beam of 78 feet and the lock is only 80 feet wide. The Energy Freedom is the widest ever to travel through the waterway and was downbound with a cargo of coal for delivery at Wilmington, Del.

With the 149-foot Gulf Majesty in its 60- foot-deep stern notch, the tug/barge combination measures 642 feet. The 7,200-brakehorsepower tug is fitted with a secondary 49-foot pilothouse, and bow and side bumpers were installed to convert the tug from a towing to a combination notch/towing tug.

The Energy Freedom, built by Bay Shipbuilding Corp., Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is owned by Universal American Shipping Corporation of Greenwich, Conn. Bay Shipbuilding Corp., a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, Inc., also handled the converting of Gulf Marine Corp.'s fleet tug Gulf Majesty to combination notch/towing tug.

Other stories from November 1981 issue

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.