Sharing tug experiences in British Columbia

North Arm Transportation’s tug and barge fleet has evolved over the years, supplying remote locations from its Vancouver base on the North Arm of the Fraser River and at other facilities. Work involves delivering fuel and heavy equipment to areas with water only access in the inlets and islands of the BC coast.

The company has an A.G. McIlwain-designed 19.7m tug, to be named North Arm Tempest under construction at ABD Boats in North Vancouver and when considering its design the question of conventional drive or Z-drives came up where with few exceptions barge towing tugs in the region have conventional propellers in nozzles.

Gino Stradiotti from North Arm Transportation comments: “We work in remote areas, without much access to assist boats. A lot is on the hip, taking the barge into the beach or bulkhead. Part of the thinking was to take a page from Bob and Russell Shrewsbury’s book at Western Towboat in Seattle where they use Z-drives for towing. They face similar challenges in Alaska albeit with a lot bigger tugs and barges. They were very generous with their operational thoughts.”

The new tug will be powered by Cummins KTA38-M main engines each producing 1,000hp driving Veth Z-drives via Vulkan torsional flexible couplings and composite shafts with Cummins commenting: ‘The role of Z-drives on towing vessels along the west coast will be sparking a lot of interest amongst those looking to upgrade their fleets. In BC, North Arm Transportation is leading the way with the North Arm Tempest.’

The towing arrangement also prompted conversations with of other operators as Gino Stradiotti explains: ‘We’ve had a lot of discussion with Jack Davies owner of the Z-drive tug Renegade, a sister to our new boat about the design and about towing. While he has outfitted her with a towing winch I do not know if he has had much opportunity to use her for work other than ship docking.

Burrard Iron Works will supply a split-drum anchor and hawser winch forward with a single-drum towing winch aft driven hydraulically from two auxiliary engines, delivery of the tug is scheduled for January 2021.

By Peter Barker