Aboard ASD tug William S, Bisso crew are feeling pretty cool

摘要

On a brilliant fall afternoon the sparkling new Bisso Tow-boat azimuthing stern drive (ASD) tug William S put a line up to the 737-foot bulk carrier Golden Kiji at Nine-Mile Anchorage below New Orleans. Along with Michael S on the stern, the tug ran with the ship upriver to the mooring dolphins outside of Chalmette Slip. "I learned this job from people who had done it for 20 or 30 years," said Capt. Rob Liebkemann at the helm of William S. "You cannot learn this job by reading a textbook. Experience is paramount, especially on this particular river - high river, or low river. And with these tugs, everything I learned on a conventional tug, I had to unlearn. It just takes practice."