Two Boat Awards for Crowley Companies

Together Crowley Maritime Corp. and subsidiary Jensen Maritime, the company’s Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm, were honored with two of the top 10 Significant Boat awards during the annual International Workboat Show recently held in New Orleans.

The awards, which were both accepted by Jensen Vice President Jonathan Parrot, were for the design of Crowley’s 750 class articulated tug-barges (ATBs), a series of three tugboats and accompanying 330,000-barrel petroleum tank barges and for the Jensen-designed Bob Franco, a new 120-foot long Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tugboat built by Diversified Marine, Inc. for Harley Marine Services.

”The award for Crowley’s ATBs comes on the heels of the successful closeout of our $1 Billion, decade-long, three-class ATB construction program,” said Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager, petroleum services. “These innovative vessels have greatly expanded the company’s U.S.-flag petroleum services fleet and allow us to provide our customers with safe, reliable petroleum transportation services. We are proud to have designed them in-house and to be recognized for our vision.”

Likewise, the Jensen-designed Bob Franco is making waves in the industry for its custom design, which made it one of the first to be powered by Tier III CAT C175 engines, which have lower emissions and make it a more environmentally friendly option.

“We were honored to be selected by Harley Marine Services as the designer of this tugboat and are subsequently honored by Workboat’s recognition of it as a significant vessel,” said Parrot. “This vessel has enhancements that make it environmentally friendly, but still has all the power of a traditional tug having tested out at more than 90 short tons of bollard pull. This proves that Jensen designs successfully marry function and environmental awareness.”

Both Crowley and Jensen have been honored at past Workboat shows, most recently includes 2012 when Crowley was recognized for its design of two Crowley-owned ocean class tugboats, the Ocean Wind and Ocean Wave, and Jensen was recognized for its design of Murden, a hopper dredge vessel developed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.