The Great Lakes Shipyard at Cleveland, Ohio has delivered the Dutch-designed tug Cleveland to associated Great Lakes Towing Company as the first of ten sister boats to be completed to a Damen design under license.
All of the vessels are to measure 65ft by 24ft and will make use of twin MTU 8V4000 M54R engines, each putting out 1,000-hp at 1,600 rpm.
One of the first duties performed by the new 30-ton bollard pull Cleveland was the handling of Lower Lakes Towing’s 74-year-old Mississagi, built in 1943 as Hill Annex for the US Maritime Commission but which traded as George A. Sloan until acquired by Lower Lakes in 2001.
The former steam-powered bulk carrier continues to trade after being converted to a self-unloader in the mid-1960s and given a Caterpillar diesel engine in the mid-1980s. Jim Shaw
Photo shows the 2,000hp tug Cleveland, with line attached to one of the Great Lakes’ oldest vessels, the 74-year-old Mississagi. (Photo: Great Lakes Towing Company)