By Captain Bobbie Scolley, U.S. Navy (ret.) and Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, U.S. Navy (ret.)For more than six decades, spanning from 1905 to the late 1970s, the U.S. Navy’s diving apparatus for deep ocean operations and salvage remained fundamentally unchanged. During this period, the demographic of navy divers also saw little alteration.
Moran Towing Corporation acquired Bisso Towboat Co, as it aims to accommodate growing needs of New Orleans and the Lower Mississippi River communities.Moran was founded in 1860 and is privately owned and operated. It offers ship assist services in 17 ports along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts and has operated in New Orleans since 2006.
Master Boat Builders, Inc. announced the successful launch of the Jill, marking a milestone in its ongoing partnership with Gulf LNG Tugs of Port Arthur, LLC, a joint venture comprised of Bay-Houston Management, LLC; Bay Towing, LLC; Moran Towing Corporation; and Suderman & Young Towing Company.
Master Boat Builders launched the tugboat Jill, marking a major milestone in its ongoing partnership with Gulf LNG Tugs of Port Arthur, LLC , a joint venture comprised of Bay-Houston Management, LLC; Bay Towing, LLC; Moran Towing Corporation; and Suderman & Young Towing Company. Together, the Gulf LNG partners have more than 400 years of experience in ship assist and towage services.
HII announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division has reached a significant construction milestone for Virginia-class submarine Oklahoma (SSN 802).Oklahoma is now “pressure hull complete,” which signifies all of the hull sections have joined to form a single, watertight unit.It is the 29th Virginia-class fast attack submarine, the first of Block V and the 14th to be delivered by NNS.
The William E. Moran has entered service in New York, bringing enhanced capability and performance to Moran’s evolving fleet. As the first vessel in the company’s next-generation class, it is purpose-built to meet the demands of modern port operations, support evolving customer needs, and advance Moran’s goals for safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility.
Expansion into Harbor Tug sector helps Master Boat Builders nearly double in size, from 200 to 400 employees building eight to nine vessels per year, and the prospect of a new drydock plus additional partnerships and government construction contracts promises to power the company forward further, faster.
Denmark’s, and Svitzer’s, first electric tugboat was named by Her Majesty Queen Mary at a ceremony in Copenhagen.The new tugboat will carry the name Svitzer Ingrid, as announced by Her Majesty during the naming ceremony, which was attended by more than 100 executives from the Danish maritime industry.
The William E Moran, the first vessel in Moran's next-generation class, recently entered service in New York. Purpose-built, the next-gen tugs will be among the largest in the Moran fleet.Built by Master Boat Builders in Coden, Alabama and designed by Robert Allan Ltd., the William E Moran belongs to the RApport 2800 series.
Shipbuilding in the United States has seen a heightened profile with increased attention from Congress and the Trump 2.0 Administration. The ongoing dialogue regarding reinvigorating the U.S. deep sea fleet has brought mainstream attention to vessel construction, which has been nearly absent in recent years.
Tugboat and towboat owners across the nation eye fuel efficiency and emission reduction technologies and techniques in advance of increasingly stringent regulations.he first half of 2025 has seen a great deal of attention on emissions from vessels, with an eye towards their continued reductions in the coming years.
On April 5, 2025, Moran Towing celebrated the christening of the Mary Jane Moran with their crews, customers, port partners, and the family of the namesake in Port Arthur, TX. The event marked the arrival of a powerful new tug and honored a family who have been a part of our story for decades.