Fincantieri to build articulated tug barge unit

The deal is with Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, USA an operating division of Italy’s Fincantieri Marine Group. The ATB unit is scheduled for delivery in late 2017 and the contract includes the option for a second ATB unit which if taken up would potentially be delivered in 2018.

The barge will be 176.1m in length with a beam of 23.7m and a capacity of 185,000 barrels of liquid. The tug unit itself will provide a power output of 8,000hp from Tier IV compliant engines and once complete the combination will operate on the US East Coast to Gulf of Mexico routes.

The opportunity for Fincantieri Marine Group marks an additional expansion to their product portfolio in what is considered a very competitive market. The contract will increase the company’s pipeline of new construction projects to 10 vessels providing stability to the business in general.

Francesco Valente, FMG President and CEO stated: “We are pleased to have this opportunity.” adding: “This new contract marks an additional expansion of our product portfolio, confirms our ability to win business with new customers in a very competitive market and further consolidates our presence and reach in the US market.”

Fincantieri Marine Group is the US subsidiary and part of the global Fincantieri shipbuilding conglomerate based at Trieste in Italy. Their US activities include three shipyards and three subsidiary companies with their US head office in Miami Florida. The Fincantieri group itself produces a wide range of vessels including offshore support vessels and anchor-handling tug supply vessels. They took a major step in 2013 when they acquired STX OSV (now called VARD) and active largely in the offshore vessel construction industry in Norway.

By Peter Barker