Morgan City, La.-based Conrad Shipyard has delivered its third of a new class of articulated tug-barges to Vane Brothers Company, Baltimore.

The ATB is made up of the 110'x38', 4,400-hp tug Wachapreague and 403'x74'x32', 80,000-bbl. barge Double Skin 803. The ATB is linked with a Beacon Finland JAK 700 coupling system. The barge is equipped with bowthrusters and thermal heaters for asphalt cargo. The tug has a design draft of 15'4" and is powered by two 2,200-hp Cummins QSK60M, Tier 3 engines. Four-bladed Hung Shen bronze propellers, measuring 102" each, are turned by Reintjes WAF 873 gears with 7.087:1 reduction ratios. The tug has accommodations for a crew of 10.

The ATB is the third of a series of three like units built for Vane. The first ATB, the tug Assateague, built at Conrad’s Orange, Texas, facility, is paired with the 80,000-bbl. barge Double Skin 801, which Conrad built in Amelia, La. All three ATB tugs werre designed by Greg Castleman of Castleman Maritime. Bristol Harbor Group designed the barges. The second ATB, the tug Chincoteague, is paired with the barge Double Skin 802.

New ATB for Vane Brothers. Conrad Shipyard photo

New ATB for Vane Brothers. Conrad Shipyard photo

“It is always rewarding to deliver new vessels to a repeat customer like Vane,” Conrad Shipyard Chairman and CEO Johnny Conrad, said in a statement. “The Vane team is great to work with, and this ATB is representative of the quality, craftsmanship, integrity and service consistently delivered by our extraordinary shipbuilding team.”

David Krapf has been editor of WorkBoat, the nation’s leading trade magazine for the inland and coastal waterways industry, since 1999. He is responsible for overseeing the editorial direction of the publication. Krapf has been in the publishing industry since 1987, beginning as a reporter and editor with daily and weekly newspapers in the Houston area. He also was the editor of a transportation industry daily in New Orleans before joining WorkBoat as a contributing editor in 1992. He has been covering the transportation industry since 1989, and has a degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego, and also studied journalism at the University of Houston.