SOUTHERN TOWING SPREADS THE WORD ABOUT Z-DRIVE TOWBOATS

摘要

Steiner Shipyard of Bayou La Batre, Ala. has completed three vessels of an unusual four-towboat contract for Southern lowing of Memphis, Tenn. The 120-foot Scott Stegbauer was delivered April 30, preceded by Frank T. Stegbauer and David Stegbauer.rnAs has been well documented over the past year, these new 3,200-hp vessels are unusual in that they are among the first towboats on the inland rivers to be propelled by azimuthing stern drive (ASD) propulsion.rnDesign of the new boats was by Shearer & Associates of Metairie, La.rnBased on the performance of the firstrntwo towboats delivered, the people at Southern Towing appear to be happy with the performance of the vessels, with most of the accolades directed at the z-drives.rnASD (z-drive) propulsion has become very popular as a means of propulsion for harbor tugboats, but less so for other types of tugs and almost never, or rarely, for pushboats. But z-drive propulsion works just fine for Southern Towing, says the man who built these tugs, because the company values maneuverability as much as raw power.