Seaway Guardian [Image:SLSDC]
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) right this moment reported the arrival of its new tugboat, the Seaway Guardian, in Massena, N.Y.
The vessel has been on a three-week journey by way of the Gulf of Mexico, round Florida, and up the Atlantic seaboard from Gulf Island Shipyards in Houma, La., the place it was constructed. The Seaway Guardian would be the first new American-built tugboat to hitch SLSDC for the reason that Seaway opened 61 years in the past.
“The St. Lawrence Seaway is important because it provides access for American raw materials, manufactured goods and agricultural products to be exported all over the world. Many thanks to the Wisconsin-based crew that sailed the new tug on its long journey from the shipyard to the Seaway. The Seaway Guardian, the first new American-built, American-crewed tugboat to join the Saint Lawrence Seaway Corporation in 61 years, will be a great addition to the Seaway’s fleet,” stated U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.
Construction of the Seaway Guardian, which is a Robert Allan Ltd TundRA 3600 tug able to working in troublesome ice circumstances, started in 2018. The keel was laid on June 26, 2018 and the vessel launched on September 12, 2019. Sea trials within the Gulf of Mexico had been accomplished in June of this yr and the tug started its supply voyage to SLSDC’s marine base in Massena on July 2.
The Seaway Guardian’s main missions might be buoy upkeep and ice administration. It can even help in firefighting and emergency operational response on the St. Lawrence Seaway. The new tug price $24 million to assemble as a part of the SLSDC’s Asset Renewal Program. The tug will exchange the 62-year-old vessel, Robinson Bay, which the SLSDC will keep as back-up for the foreseeable future.
