The BRAtt goes to sea
At the end of October the BRAtt, prototype of the world’s first purpose built training tug, travelled to Seattle to go on show at The Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers 2010 Annual Meeting and Expo, taking place in early November and at the Pacific Marine Expo later in the month.
It was decided to take the little 8.53m (28 foot) ASD tug on the 110 mile sea voyage from Point Roberts to Seattle under its own power.
The BRAtt was manned by Captain Ron Burchett and his able crew Alan Burchett and Ben Flodquist. During the early stages of the trip the tug encountered 12 to 15 knot easterly winds and a two foot chop. With Boundary Bay abeam, the winds increased to NE 20 to 25 knot, with four foot seas on the forward quarter. The ride was described as lively for the little tug but with the heavy ballasted skeg, the motions were very good with just moderate spray and no green water on deck. Arriving at Cherry Point around noon, the BRAtt was greeted by the massive Voith escort tugs Garth Foss and Lindsay Foss and the crew was invited aboard for a lunch.
Continuing on their way at 8.6 knots in a three foot head sea, the intrepid trio made an overnight stop at Anacortes before proceeding next day to the Ballard Locks. BRAtt caught the eye of many spectators as it passed through the locks and made the trip up the canal towards Lake Union. By 17:00 the BRAtt was moored at the Fremont Tugboat Company after successfully completing the trip without incident. According to Captain Burchett, ‘The tug showed that she can go anywhere to do the job, she exceeded my expectations.’
The ultra-compact 450 hp ASD BRAtt was conceived by Ron Burchett and Rob Allan, designed by Robert Allan Ltd., and built by Adrenalin Marine Inc. It is equipped with a fully operational ship handling winch and all the necessary features of a fully functional harbour tug, scaled down to 8.53m. In addition to operating as a line handling and/or harbour tug, it provides an excellent training platform for tug operators interested in learning the skills necessary to handle an ASD tug. The main engines are Cummins, with ZF Gears, Centa shafting, Olympic Z-Drives with PMC Controls, fenders by Schuyler, and a Braden Hawser winch. Licenses have been awarded enabling the BRAtt to be built in North America, Europe and China. (Maritime Journal June 2010)
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