Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2002)

Workboat Annual tow. Both have twin 2,260 hp diesel engines on Ulstein Z-Drives turning 100 x 120-in. propellers in Nautican

High Efficiency Nozzles, although the

Gulf Titan is 12-ft. longer. The West- ern Titan had a 322 x 90 x 18 ft., 5,000-dwt barge with ordinary skegs on the line, while the Gulf Titan was pulling a 422 x 100 x 25 ft. 10,000-dwt barge that had the Hydralift skegs.

Using readings from the CAT

Engine Vision system to measure fuel flow, he says, "they were making the same speed, burning the same fuel", which he says shows how much more efficient the Hydralift skegs made the heavier barge.

The biggest complaint, though, about Hydralifts seems to be that they act like a huge garden rake and can pick up debris, which slows the barge down. The skegs are required to be cleared using methods such as moving the debris out with a tug's propeller wash, spinning the barge around away from the debris, or backing the barge up.

John Fowlis, Hull Superintendent at

Seaspan International Ltd., provides some of the other limitations of the

Hydralift skeg. At slow speed, less than about three knots, he reports "they tend to skitter all over the place" and that they can wander in shallow waters . He said that they "tend to require a tail boat, especially in current or rivers." Unlike Seaspan, Shrewsbury says that they do not require a tail boat to bring the barge in, but this may be because they make up on the hip (side tow) when bringing the barges in, whereas the Canadians shorten up the towline. Gruzling explains that the loss of control in shallow waters comes from a bottom effect, when the stern rake is too steep relative to the depth of (Continued on page 88) €ver wonder uuhot's R€flllV in those tanks?

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