In late June, Marquette Transportation Co. took delivery of a new 2,000-hp Z-drive towboat from Master Marine Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala.

The 78’×34’×11′ Kieffer E. Bailey was designed by Frank Basile at Entech & Associates, Houma, La., for Marquette’s Gulf-Inland division, based in Harahan, La.

For Master Marine, it was its first Z-drive inland river towboat with two more underway for Marquette, said the yard’s president Randy Orr. It’s also the first Z-drive for Marquette. “Our shipyard has not been as active as other Bayou La Batre-area yards in towboat construction in recent years,” Orr said. “But after making some personnel changes and new investments in infrastructure such as replacing our old drydock, updating the fab shops and rebuilding the old launch ways, we have reentered this market.”

The Kieffer’s power is provided by a pair of Caterpillar C32 Tier 3 1,000-hp engines at 1,800 rpm connected to ZF Marine ZF AT 5111WM-FP Z-drives with 1,650 mm (65″) 4-bladed propellers in nozzles. The package gives the boat a running speed of 10 knots. 

For ship’s service power the towboat is outfitted with a pair of John Deere 4045AFM85 generator drive engines each powering an 80-kW generator. To secure barge tows, there’s a pair of Patterson 40-ton deck winches.

The Kieffer E. Bailey  has tankage for 22,000 gals. of fuel; 6,500 gals. potable water; and 11,000 gals. ballast water. — David Krapf