Senesco Marine is well known for the ATB tugs it has constructed, but a harbor/escort tug was never on its list of newbuilds.
That changed this past June when the Z-drive harbor tug Buckley McAllister left Senesco’s North Kingston, R.I., boatyard and headed for Massachusetts’ Cape Cod Canal where it will work for New York-based McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. Inc.
Jensen Maritime Consultants, Seattle, designed the 96'×36'×15' Buckley McAllister, named for the current president of McAllister.
The Buckley McAllister is powered by a pair of Tier-3 Caterpillar 3516 CHD diesels producing a combined 5,150 hp. The main engines are matched up with Schottel SRP 1215 Z-drives and 4-bladed fixed-pitch nibral propellers in nozzles. Electrical power comes from a pair of John Deere-6068 TMGK generator drive engines powering 99-kw generators.
Towing equipment includes a JonRie series 512 towing winch aft with 2,100' of 2 ¼" wire. The winch has a 140,000-lb. line pull at 60 fpm.
At the bow, a JonRie 250 escort winch carries 600' of 8" Samson Saturn-12 hawser line with a line pull of 145,000 lbs. at 100 fpm. The JonRie 250 has an active heave compensation system for controlled payout and recovery. The 250-winch system also includes tension meters with data logs and foot controls for hands-free operations.
The Buckley McAllister has a FiFi1 rating with firefighting equipment from In-Mar Systems that consists of “two forward facing FFS monitors, putting out 6,000 gpm each,” said the boatyard’s Richard Dougherty. A 1,300-hp Cat C32 Tier 3 engine powers the 11,600-gpm-firefighting system. Capacities on the tug include 30,000 gals. of fuel; 6,150 gals. potable water; 14,314 gals. fresh water; and 1,500 gals. foam.
There are accommodations for seven. The tug’s loaded draft is 16'6".
When the Buckley McAllister left Rhode Island, Senesco was working on its second harbor tug for McAllister Towing, the Eric M. McAllister.
Dougherty said it’s a sistership to the Buckley McAllister, with just a couple of small differences.
Like the Buckley, it will have a JonRie 250 winch on the bow, but the stern will be equipped with a JonRie 230 escort winch. And there won’t be tow pins on the stern. There will be firefighting ability but “it won’t be a FiFi boat,” Dougherty said. The Eric M. McAllister is scheduled for an October delivery.
Senesco Marine is also building a 118'×36' ATB tug for Reinauer Transportation designed by Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering in Milford, Mass. — Michael Crowley
