Southern Illinois Transfer, Sparta, Ill., is building a new retractable pilothouse vessel at Kaskaskia Shipyard Inc., Red Bud, Ill. The new towboat will be powered by two Mitsubishi diesel propulsion engines, supplied by Laborde Products, Covington, La.
Main propulsion will come from Mitsubishi S6R2-Y3MPTAW Tier 3 diesel marine engines rated at 803 hp at 1,400 rpm each. Additionally, this is the first build where Laborde supplied Mitsubishi engines to be coupled to Veth Z-drives.
“We are excited about building our first Mitsubishi powered boat and will be building a second vessel with the Mitsubishis following the completion of this one,” Kurt Johnson, president of Southern Illinois Transfer, said in a statement announcing the new boat’s construction. “Our extensive experience with large displacement and slower turning engines like EMDs on the locomotive side of our business, really attracted us to the Mitsubishi S6R2, not to mention we really like the fact that they are mechanical, and we can work on them ourselves.”
“Laborde Products is excited about the growing partnership with Kurt and the whole SIT team, and providing a fully mechanical solution to their fleet,” said Trace Laborde, vice president of sales at Laborde Products.
No additional specs were provided.
