VT Halter Marine Inc. has been awarded a contract to build an articulated tug-barge (ATB) tug for Bouchard Transportation Co. Inc.
The ABS-classed ATB tug Evening Stroll will measure 112'x35'x17' and be a sister vessel to the Denise A. Bouchard, Evening Star and Evening Breeze. The Evening Breeze is currently under construction at VT Halter’s Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2019.
The 4,000-hp Evening Stroll is classed by ABS as Maltese Cross, A1 Ocean Towing, Dual Mode ATB, USCG Subchapter M, SOLAS. It will meet EPA Tier 4 requirements, and will be equipped with an Intercon coupler system.
Construction of the ATB tug will begin immediately at Pascagoula with delivery scheduled for December 2019. This vessel will enter Bouchard’s fleet in New York to transport liquid petroleum products throughout the Jones Act market.
“We are proud to continue our longstanding relationship with VT Halter Marine through the new construction of another cutting edge ATB tug ... and look forward to furthering our growth over the next year as we add two more high quality vessels to our fleet," Morton S. Bouchard III, president and CEO of Bouchard Transportation, Melville, N.Y., said in a statement.
Bouchard's fleet consists of 26 barges, ranging from 35,000 bbls. to 260,000 bbls., and 25 tugs, ranging from 3,000 hp to 10,000 hp.
“We are excited to work with Bouchard Transportation on this new ATB tug for their New York fleet. We look forward to successful deliveries of Evening Breeze and Evening Stroll in 2019," Ronald Baczkowski, CEO of VT Halter, said in a statement
VT Halter Marine is the marine operations of VT Systems. The shipyard designs, builds and repairs a wide variety of oceangoing vessels such as patrol vessels, oil recovery vessels, oil cargo vessels, ferries, logistic support vessels, auxiliaries, and research and survey vessels.
