Bowling Green

A HIGH-POWER, TRIPLE-SCREW TOWBOAT

Belle Chasse, La. shipbuilder C&C Marine and Repair this summer delivered the new towboat Bowling Green to Kirby Inland Marine, L.P. The newbuild—the second in a three-boat series for Kirby, delivered six months after the fi rst vessel Scarlett Rose Furlong —will operate it under a long-term lease from Hines Furlong Line.

The 6,600-horsepower triple-screw towboat measures 170 feet by 50 feet with the pilot house eyeline measuring at 39 feet, three inches. Designed by CT Marine based in Portland, Maine, the vessel is powered by three Cummins QSK60-M main engines, provided by Cummins MidSouth, that are paired with three Reintjes WAF 1173 H/V reduction gears, provided by Karl Senner, LLC. The service power is provided by three Cummins QSM11-DM, 275 kW generators, and the conventional steering system HPU was provided by EMI Marine. The towboat is outfi tted with three 100” diameter stainless-steel fi xed pitch propellers, provided by Sound Propeller Systems, Inc, and features double steering rudder system. The accommodations include a total of 12 beds (11 crew, plus one guest), and the vessel’s design includes a fl oating, spring mounted superstructure for additional crew comfort.

“We wanted the durability of a conventional vessel with both stellar northbound and southbound performance,” Hines Furlong Line president Kent Furlong told Marine News. “At the same time, we fully acknowledge the superior maneuverability that Z-drives offer. With all of this in mind, we are convinced that this conventional, kort nozzled setup with the double steering rudder arrangement gets us the best of both worlds.”