Tug Sales and Charters

Since Marcon International’s first tug sale in 1985, we have sold or chartered 366 tugs totaling over 1,176,997HP, out of a total of 1,512 vessels and barges sold or chartered.

McAllister Towing and Transportation Company of New York have sold their twin screw tug "Barbara McAllister" (ex- Bouchard Boys, T.J. Sheridan, T.M. 1, Ocean Star) to Mar-K Towing in Florida. Measuring 104.6' loa x 36.3' beam, the tug was built in 1969 at Halter Marine, LA. The unit is powered by twin EMD 16-645E2 creating a total of 3,900BHP and is fitted with an Intercon single drum 200 winch. The buyer intends to remove the upper pilothouse and use as a shipdocking tug. Marcon was the sole brokers in the transaction.

The U.S. flag twin screw tug "Pacific Warrior" (ex- Powhatan, Robbyn J., Zapata 88, Hull 467) was sold. The tug was originally built in 1975 by Halter Marine in Louisiana. She was subsequently repowered in 2004 along with the installation of quad rudders, kort nozzles, new reduction gear foundations, shafts and propellers. She measures 105.0' loa x 96.8' lbp x 30' beam x 14' depth with a 11.7' loaded draft and has an ABS unrestricted ocean loadline. Tank capacities include 50,000g diesel oil, 600g lube oil, and 5,000g potable water. She's fitted with an Intercon single drum main towing winch with a line pull of 40 tons and drum capacity for 2,600' x 1.75" wire. Main engines are two Cummins KTA50M2 Tier 1 diesels with a total 3,000BHP at 1,800RPM driving two 91" x 89" 4-blade skewed fixed pitch propellers in kort nozzles through Reintjes WAT 772 7.445:1 gears. Bollard pull is rated at 45 short tons. Marcon acted as the sole broker in the transaction. The tug will be repositioned to Kodiak, Alaska to work for new owners Paradigm Marine.

Atlas Ocean Towing, LLC of California concluded the sale of its tug "Pacific Freedom" to US West Coast Buyers. This is the second time Marcon has been involved with the sale of this tug. Originally built as the "Victor J. Guidry" in 1975 by Avondale SY in Mobile, AL (Hull 48) for the illustrious US Gulf offshore towing family of the same name, she was originally powered with Stork-Werskpoor main engines. She was purchased by a US West Coast company in 2001 with the intention to engage in towing tank barges on the US West Coast, and was known then as the "Paula V". Unfortunately, the tug suffered some major damage during an engine room fire in the Fall of 2001 while being delivered to the US West Coast from the US Gulf. For several years she was idle and in a continuous state of "being rebuilt" by her former Owner. Effectively she remained located at a small shipyard in Golden Meadow, LA for an extended period while this work was underway. The tug was sold in an incomplete state of rebuild to US Gulf Buyers via Marcon’s brokering in July 2006. Her total refurbishment and re-power were then completed by that former Owner during 2006-2007. After her rebuild completion, she traded under the name of "Int'l Freedom", and was once again stationed in the US Gulf. She is currently powered by two EMD12-645E7s for 4,300BHP, and swings a pair of 117" 4-bladed propellers on 10" shafts through Falk 3550MRHC15A 4.65:1 reduction gear. Her dimensions of 110' x 32.0' x 17.5' depth and fuel capacity of 87,000g, coupled with her raised foc'stle bow, gives her excellent ocean towing range. She is also fitted with a Smatco 55 DTDT-170 double drum towing winch, with 125T of line pull, and has quarters for 11 crew members in eight cabins. She was last sold from the US Gulf to the US West Coast in 2014 where she traded successfully in the Pacific Ocean with operations in Hawaii, and Guam. The tug was originally classed with ABS+A1, +AMS and she now carries an ABS Loadline. She was also recently certified by the USCG with a Certificate of Inspection for Oceans, under the Subchapter "M" requirements. The tug’s new Owner will operate her throughout the Pacific Ocean, and world-wide within the company's service.

Marcon brokered the sale of the U.S. flag, twin screw tug "Nancy M" from Manson Construction Co. of Seattle, Washington. The "Nancy M" was originally built in 1970 at Albina Engine & Machine Works, Inc. in Portland, Oregon as the "Shelly Foss" (Hull 418) for Foss Maritime Company. The 90.0' x 30.0' x 14.2' depth / 14' draft tug was designed and built to take over as the prime ship-assist tug in Seattle, Washington, relieving the 1,200HP sister-tugs "Carol Foss" and "Shannon Foss" as ship tonnage and arrivals and departures increased to where a more powerful tug was needed. Two distinctive features at the time, now common, was the design of the pilothouse window glass slanted inwards to minimize glare and viewing ports in the pilothouse "eyebrow" to better see tie-up lines and movement of the ships being maneuvered in and out of docks. The 50-year old tug is powered by twin CAT D399TAs developing a total of 2,250BHP at 1,225RPM, Lufkin RLS 4218 5.526:1 gears and 84.5" 4-blade fixed pitch props on 8.5" diameter shafts in steering Kort nozzles. These were the days before azimuthing stern drive shipdocking tugs and Voith Schneider tractor tugs were in regular use. Owners reported that the Kort nozzles increased her actual bollard pull by about 40% over a conventional open wheel installation, and the props being trainable 25 degrees each side increased the tug's maneuverability. Her bow and stern line winches were custom designed for more efficient line-handling, as both winches were controlled from the main console in the pilothouse alongside the main engine controls. "Shelly Foss" was rebuilt in 1993 with a new house, stern, etc. and continued working for Foss until 2009 when sold to Manson Construction of Seattle. They modified the tug with tall push knees to shift and provide support to their fleet of derrick barges. Towing gear consists of a single drum Foss built tow winch aft, push knees and two 20T hydraulic bow winches with fairleads forward for use in the pushing mode. Ship's power is provided by 115kW / CAT D3304 and 50kW 208/120VAC generators. Accommodations are provided for five crew. Although 50 years old this year, the "Nancy M" was still working and in good condition overall, with new Kort nozzles installed in 2018, and a fresh U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter "M" Inspection at the time of sale. Marcon acted as sole broker in the transaction and has represented both parties in previous sales and purchases.

Full Tug Sales report is available here: Tug Sales Report.pdf