Bay Ship Wins Articulated Tug Barge Contract

Visitors to Bay Shipbuilding during the annual Sturgeon Bay Rotary Club shipyard tour in 2013 got a look at an earlier barge being built for the Gulf Coast oil industry. Photo by Jim Lundstrom.

Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG) signed a contract for the construction of an Articulated Tug Barge (ATB) for delivery in late 2017. The contract includes an option for a second ATB unit to be potentially delivered in 2018. The vessels will be built at FMG’s Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay.

The new barge will have a capacity of 185,000-barrels with dimensions of 578 feet by 78 feet. The tug will be an 8,000-HP unit equipped with new Tier IV engines to meet the latest EPA emission standards. When complete, this new ATB will operate on the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity,” stated Francesco Valente, FMG president and CEO. “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 U.S. market.”

“This award increases our pipeline of new construction to 10 vessels and provides additional stability to our business,” added FBS Vice President and General Manager Todd Thayse. “We are grateful for the confidence that our customers continue to place in our reputation for quality and the strong shipbuilding skills of our workforce.”

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is an operating division of Fincantieri Marine Group, the United States subsidiary of global shipbuilding giant Fincantieri, employing almost 21,000 people in 21 shipyards on four different continents, and with a 230-year track record of building more than 7,000 ships.