2019 Sales and Charters

Marcon International is pleased to report 27 sales and charters completed this year - ten barges and seventeen vessels. The last couple of weeks of the decade was a busy time at Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Washington. Many owners and operators were looking to conclude their transactions before the end of the year - especially where tugs were concerned. Some Owners were successful, but a few regretfully did not make it under the wire.

On the low horsepower end of the market, private Canadian buyers purchased the 150HP, U.S. flag, single screw tug "National" (ex- Buckeye State) from New York Sellers. The 42.0' x 12.4' x 6.6' depth / 5.0' draft tug was originally built in 1951 by Equitable Equipment Co. of New Orleans, Louisiana for Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. of Oak Brook, Illinois. After passing through the hands of a number of marine construction and dive companies she was inherited by the seller. The steel hull tug is powered by a single GM6-71NA diesel developing 150BHP at 1,800RPM, with an Allison 3:1 gear and fixed pitch prop. Tug's electrical power is provided by a single 15kW Onan 120vAC diesel generator. Towing gear consisted of just a double tow bitt aft, but she looked like a traditional work boat of another era. Marcon acted as sole broker in the sale of this fine, sixty-eight year old, little tug.

Definitely much newer and with a lot more horsepower, tank barge operator, Kirby Corp. of Houston, Texas sold their U.S. flag, twin screw tug "Arabian Sea" to private interests. The 4,800BHP, high foc'stle bow tug was originally built in 2008 as the "Barbara C" by Don Church of SeaBoats, Inc. of Fall River, Massachusetts as Hull No. 8 for his privately owned and operated SeaBoats Incorporated / Tugs Unlimited Inc. of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The 105.0' x 37.8' x 19.5' depth / 16.0' loaded draft tug is powered by a pair of CAT 3516B-HD diesels developing total 4,800BHP at 1,600RPM, Massone Marine 7.345:1 gears, ZF shaft brakes and 110" x 84" 4-blade props on 8" shafts. Ship's power is provided by three 99kW / John Deere 6068TFM76 generators and towing gear consists of a single drum Almon Johnson 225 winch powered by a John Deere 6068TFM76 diesel. Tankage consists of 102,000g fuel, 1,760g lube oil, 10,000g potable water and 77,271g ballast water. In 2011, K-Sea Transportation, headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey and at the time operator of one of the largest U.S. coastwise tank barge fleets, acquired the "Barbara C" when they purchased the assets of SeaBoats Inc. to support their transportation of refined petroleum products. Shortly thereafter, Kirby Corporation acquired K-Sea Transportation Partners in a transaction valued at approx. US$ 604 million. K-Sea then became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirby and the tug was renamed the "Arabian Sea". Marcon acted as sole broker in the sale and has represented both the buyer in seller in previous transactions.

The 223.0' oceanographic research vessel "Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa", has been sold by the University of Hawaii to private foreign buyers. The vessel originally started out as the highly sophisticated 185' x 38.0' x 16.0' depth, SCR Diesel Electric powered geophysical research / seismic vessel "Western Strait" built by Mangone Shipbuilding Co. of Houston, Texas in 1979 as Hull 126. At that time, "Western Strait" joined Western Geophysical Company's fleet of some 30 vessels engaged in offshore research throughout the world. The SCR Diesel Electric propulsion system supplied power from two GM16V149TI diesels, each driving a 1,100kW Kato AC generator to two Westinghouse 1,000HP DC motors. The ship had a range of abt. 11,500 nautical miles and working endurance of 38 days. Quarters were provided for 39 geophysical personnel and crew. Her first assignment was in South American waters and she operated worldwide under the Panamanian registry until the time of the last big industry down-turn in mid-1980s when she was laid up. University of Hawaii purchased the vessel in 1988-89 and in 1991-93, the ship was lengthened from her original length to 220' by installation of a mid-body section at Bender Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. At this time she was converted to a multi-purpose oceanographic research vessel and primary mother ship for two dedicated deep-diving Pisces manned submersibles operated by the University of Hawaii (not included in sale). "Western Strait" was renamed "Kaimikai-O-Kanaloa" and promptly became commonly known as the "KOK". The ship was classed with the American Bureau of Shipping and reflagged to U.S. registry. Over 1,050ft2 of space was provided in four separate laboratories and over 3,000ft2 of exterior working space was available on the aft main deck, aft 01 deck and hanger. A 4m x 4m moon pool with a remotely operated 9ft2 platform and support cabling allowed for simultaneous trans-hull deployment of up to four separate acoustic transceivers. Endurance was increased to 50 days and with her 98,000g fuel capacity her range increased to 15,000nm. "KOK" operated out of Honolulu, Hawaii throughout the Pacific for the past two decades with 14 crew and 17 scientific personnel plus two University of Hawaii technicians. University of Hawaii (UH) Marine Operations are coordinated by the UH School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology's (SOEST) UH Marine Center at Pier 35 in Honolulu Harbor. Marcon International, Inc. acted as sole broker in both the sale and arranging the 2,000nm tow on for the buyers.

TradeWinds Towing's 3,800HP tug "Rachel" (ex- Challenger, Kinsman Challenger, Edie Stephens, Esther St. Philip, Offshore Endeavor, Esther St. Philip, Equator) completed a 5,200 plus nautical mile, forty-two day tow from Corpus Christi, Texas to the Pacific Northwest. The 110.0' x 31.0' x 17.2' depth, twin screw tug was originally built in 1976 by Allied Shipyard, Inc. of Larose, Louisiana as Hull No. 151 for United Tugs Inc. of Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The raised foc'stle bow tug worked over thirty-five years for companies such as US United Ocean Services LLC, St. Philip's Coastal Towing, Gulfcoast Transit, Bay Transportation, Hvide Marine and Seabulk Towing Services before being purchased by TradeWinds in 2011. The 44.59st bollard pull tug was re-powered by twin CAT 3516B diesels in 2014 and is fitted with Reintjes 6.8:1 gears driving 93" x 80" 4-blade stainless steel props in kort nozzles. Towing gear consists of an Intercon DD200 double drum winch with 2,000' and 1,800' of 2" wire, 275' of 3.25" diameter / 10" circumference Amsteel Blue Spectra line, a bow capstan for barge handling, and a full complement of towing hawsers, shackles, wire bridles and portable running lights in addition to two 3" diesel driven portable salvage pumps, a welding machine and two line-throwing guns. Tankage consists of 86,000g fuel, 1,650g lube oil and 12,000g potable water. Tug is classed ABS +A1 Towing, +AMS, Unrestricted Service. TradeWinds Towing and the "Rachel" has handled a number of long distance tows for Marcon over the years. Marcon acted as sole broker.

Full 2019 Sales report is available here: 2019 Sales Report.pdf