Vane Brothers is fortunate that the Chesapeake Bay has a lot of tributaries. That’s because the Baltimore-based petroleum transport company began naming its tugs after them when it launched the Patapsco , named after the Patapsco River, in 2004.

Fourteen boats later, the Sassafras has joined the fleet as the first in its class, built for service in these same Chesapeake Bay rivers and on the ocean.

“We were looking for a boat to handle our new 30,000-barrel barges but would be capable of picking up one of the 50,000-barrel barges with no problem,” Jim Demske, senior port captain of Vane Brothers, said about the new class of tugs. “I am very satisfied with the Sassafras .”

The new 94′ × 32′ × 13’3″ tug is powered by twin Caterpillar 3512 diesels that put out 1,500 hp each. Designed by Houma, La.-based Entech & Associates Inc. and built at Chesapeake Shipbuilding , it is the first of six identical Sassafras-class tugs that will be built at the Salisbury, Md., yard.

Vane Brothers Company has been a port service provider in Baltimore for a century. It made an aggressive gambit into the transportation market in the ’80s when it began acquiring the fleets of regional companies. With additional locations in Norfolk, Va., and Philadelphia, and a growing fleet of double-skin barges, tugs and ATBs, Vane has emerged as a significant player in the mid-Atlantic product transport market.

To reinforce its place in the market, Vane needed to replace and standardize much of its equipment and is committed to completing OPA ’90-mandated double hulling by 2010. “We continue to have pressure from our customers to deliver modern equipment earlier as the risks of moving petroleum mount,” said company President C. Duff Hughes.

Vane has been taking delivery of new barges from Trinity Industries , JeffBoat , and Manitowoc Marine Group’s Bay Shipbuilding at a dizzying rate.

Thoma-Sea Boat Builders Inc. in Houma built 10 Patapsco-class tugs (97’6″ × 34′, 4,200 hp) to handle the larger 50,000-bbl barges. But when Vane decided to build a new fleet of 30,000-bbl barges, it was clear there needed to be a smaller tug to handle them.

DESIGN DETAILS

“The new class of boat needed to be very versatile,” Demske said of the initial discussion about the new tugs’ design and mission. The tugs would be used to move barges from terminal to terminal up the Chesapeake Bay, so a rather shallow draft would be required. But the boats also needed enough power to tow the barges coastwise and, since they would also be used for bunkering operations, they had to be highly maneuverable.

The Sassafras represents the culmination of the relationship between Demske and naval architect Frank Basile, Entech’s founder. Demske first met Basile shortly after Vane named him to oversee the company’s ambitious newbuild program in 2001. Basile’s “100-footer” is a design Demske was familiar with from his years of towing on the Gulf and East Coasts. When Demske found out that Basile had designed a new generation of the 100-footer, he flew down to New Orleans to have a look. Ultimately, Thoma-Sea built the 10 Patapsco-class tugs based on the design.

In the meantime, Basile designed a slightly larger, more powerful version of the 100-footer that Vane purchased as well. The 116′, 5,000-hp Chesapeake is built like a “bulldog,” Basile said, and the Sassafras is a “blood brother,” a scaled-down version with the same stout lines and scantlings.

While overseeing the construction of the Patapsco-class tugs at Thoma-Sea, Basile mentored Demske on the subtleties of design. As a result, the design of the new class of tugs bears the Entech signature, but with significant input from Demske on everything from the engine room to the wheelhouse.

Initially, Demske thought a 90′ boat would be ideal for operating in the tight quarters around the mid-Atlantic terminals, but the boat grew to 94′ in order to satisfy power requirements.

“Keep in mind,” said Demske, “The new double-skin 30,000- and 50,000-barrel barges are the same size as single-skin 50,000- to 75,000-barrel barges.”

With a set of blueprints in hand, Demske began shopping for a shipyard. The Louisiana yards were all booked up, so he took a ride down Maryland’s Eastern Shore to check out a yard in Vane’s backyard – Chesapeake Shipbuilding. Chesapeake was receptive to the idea of building the tugs and the two Maryland companies struck a deal to build four boats with an option for two more.

“Our costs of travel and our oversight of the project have been impacted in a positive way by keeping the newbuilds in the local economy,” said Hughes. “We are thrilled that our dollars spent in Maryland help local business on the Eastern Shore.”

The Sassafras-class hulls are being built using pre-cut, blasted and coated steel from Metals USA ‘s Baltimore location. This is the first boat Chesapeake has constructed using this method.

CRUISE CONNECTION

Charles Robertson, the shipyard’s owner, also owns Connecticut-based American Cruise Lines . Robertson estimates that a third of the production in the yard is for his company’s fleet of small cruise ships. The yard also builds dinner vessels, ferries and now tugs.

With two more Sassafras-class tugs under construction, Chesapeake Shipbuilding is serious about getting into the tug market.

“We are now in a position to compete with the southern yards, and I believe we will be able to deliver one boat every six months and then reduce that time to every four months,” said Robertson. “We will focus on the 3,000- to 5,000-horsepower tug and, based on inquiries, it appears there is more demand than capacity for new boats.”

Demske feels that the yard’s connection with the passenger vessel industry translates into a culture of neat and well-finished work.

“These guys are very good,” he said. “The fit-up work is incredibly smooth, the paint finishes are perfect, and there are many little touches that fit in with our desire to make these boats as comfortable as we can for the crews.”

That’s where Demske’s input came in. He approached the outfitting of the tug from the perspective of someone who has worked on the boats and knows that competition for quality mariners is keen. Rather than putting a TV in every cabin and calling it “habitability,” Demske raised the headroom throughout the quarters to 7’3″, giving the spaces a noticeably roomier feel. In the staterooms, he was able to raise the ceiling to 7’6″. Demske also added dense sound-deadening insulation throughout the engine room.

The upper wheelhouse has a height of eye of 40′, but glare from the windows in close quarters can be an issue at night. Demske had the angle of the forward window tilted to match that of the wheelhouse below and then dropped the side windows and permitted them to open. As a result, when operating at night, a cracked window provides fresh air and relief from the glare. To reach the upper house, there’s alternating tread stainless steel stairs from New Orleans-based Lapeyre Stair . These space savers allow for comfortable forward-facing descent, like a regular stair, at steep angles.

After several years of overseeing Vane’s new construction program, Demske has developed useful relationships with Gulf-area craftsmen. Louisiana-based Industrial Alliance and Marine Interiors provided the furniture and joinery for the Sassafras .

Houma-based Rhodes Electronics flew a crew in to install the Furuno NavNet 3D displays and swing the compass.

“The electronics on these boats are eye-popping,” said Demske.

In the engine room, the twin Caterpillar 3512C, EPA Tier 2 compliant engines are mounted on self-leveling Vibracon supports and turn Rolls-Royce 87″, 4-bladed wheels through Twin Disc MGX-5600, 6:1 ratio marine gears.

For added maneuverability, Demske chose to go with open wheels and traditional barn-door rudders.

“Frank [Basile] recommended using a Troost wheel rather than the [Michigan Wheel] Work Horse that tugs usually have,” said Demske. “He believes it will give us more speed and also excellent backing power, plus the Troost-style wheel reduces the singing of the prop.”

When operating in winter, the tugs will have to deal with ice. So Demske went to East Park Radiator in Houma to custom build a weld-on, flange-mounted Duraweld keel cooler built from heavy gauge, seamless, copper-nickel tubing.

On deck, a JonRie Intertech Series 500 hydraulic towing winch carries 2,000’ of 1.75″ wire. It was a good choice to keep the weight down on the already heavy boat.

For his part, Demske is looking forward to giving up his tug building oversight role. When this series of tugs is complete, he will have overseen construction of 17 tugs and looks forward to returning to Vane headquarters on the harbor in Baltimore.

“Of course, by then, the first boats will be heading into the shipyard, and so I guess I will be out looking after them again,” he said with a laugh.