By Mark Edward Nero
On Dec. 5, Coupeville, Wash.-based vessel and barge broker Marcon International reported its seventh and eighth tug sales of the year: the deliveries of the 4,300 HP, tugs Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister to Port City Marine Services of Muskegon, Michigan.
The 124-foot by 33.1-foot tugs were built in 1967 and 1966 respectively by Gulfport Shipbuilding Corp. of Port Arthur, Texas for Gulf Coast Transit, a subsidiary of TECO Transport & Trade of Tampa, Florida.
McAllister Towing & Transportation of New York purchased both tugs from TECO Transport in 2003. The Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister are both fitted with raised forecastle bows and elevated pilothouses with 45 to 47-foot heights of eye and powered by twin EMD 12-645E5s with Falk 4.27:1 gears and fixed pitch open props.
Towing gear consists of Markey TYS 36 single drum, two-speed tow winches with a capacity of 2,200’ of 2.25” wire. Tugs are classed ABS +A1, Towing Service, +AMS, Unrestricted Service.
The Colleen McAllister left New York City for Muskegon under tow of the Katie G. McAllister.
Estimated time of arrival is just prior to Christmas, depending on weather and seaway traffic.
The new owners say they intend to outfit both tugs with Bludworth AT/B connection systems and utilize them in a similar capacity to their 4,300 HP Prentiss Brown and Bradshaw McKee tugs, which Marcon brokered in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Marcon says that with the sale of the Colleen McAllister and Katie G. McAllister, it has brokered a total of 321 tugs with a total of 998,457 HP for sale or charter in the last 35 years, and that it hopes to break the 1,000,000 HP mark by year’s end.
