By Mark Edward Nero
Coupeville, Washington-based shipbroker Marcon Intl. said Dec. 28 that it has passed the one million horsepower mark in brokered sales.
With 2016’s latest and the second sale of the 7,200-HP tug Jimmy Smith to private US West Coast buyers, Marcon has over the past 35 years brokered 322 tugs for sale or charter totaling 1,005,657 HP, the company has said.
The 150-foot by 40.1-foot twin screw Jimmy Smith was built in 1976 by Equitable Shipyards of Madisonville, Louisiana to ABS +A1, Towing Service, Ice Class C, +AMS class as Hull 1667, the Gulf Commander.
The tug, according to Marcon, is powered by twin EMD 20-645E7A diesels with Reintjes WAV 4800 5:1 gears and 144” by 144” 4-blade fixed pitch props on 12-inch shafts in kort nozzles, plus is fitted with a 535-HP bow thruster to enhance maneuverability.
She has a bollard of 103 short tons and free running speed of about 11 to 13 knots on 220 to 330 gph. Her 221,400-gallon fuel capacity give the tug a range of about 11,070 nautical miles at 11 knots. Towing gear consists of an Intercon DD 250 double drum side-by-side tow winch with a wire capacity of about 4,000’ and 2,000’ of 2-inch wire, stern roller and Intercon tow pins.
The Jimmy Smith was one of two sister offshore anchor-handling tugs built for Gulf Mississippi Marine, which later became Gulf Fleet Marine of Houston, Texas in 1978 and Zapata Gulf Marine Service in 1985. Tidewater, Inc. acquired the tug in their 1992 acquisition of Zapata Gulf.
In 2002, Marcon brokered the sale of the tug, then known as Gulf Commander, from Tidewater to Honolulu-based Smith Maritime/Hawaiian Inter-island Towing and tug was renamed Jimmy Smith after the company’s founder.
K-Sea Transportation of New Jersey inherited the Jimmy Smith in 2007 when it acquired Smith Maritime. Four years later Kirby Corp. of Houston, Texas completed acquisition of K-Sea Transportation Partners and its fleet of 58 tank barges and 63 tugs including the Jimmy Smith.
The Jimmy Smith was laid up in fresh water at the time of the recent sale.
Marcon International reported 19 sales and charters concluded in 2016, and several more sales are pending, the company has said.
