McAllister Towing Celebrates 150 in Style

McAllister Towing hosted a dual celebration in New York City on Friday, September 19, a gala in honor of the company’s 150th anniversary and a traditional christening of the Buckley McAllister, the latest high tech tractor tug added to the company’s fleet.

Pier 60 at Chelsea piers was packed with a veritable “Who’s Who” in the maritime industry as Captain Brian A. McAllister, Chairman (4th generation); Buckley McAllister, President (5th generation) and Eric McAllister, CFO (5th generation) presided over the signature New York event.

While the evening was a celebration of one of the storied names in U.S. maritime history, the centerpiece was the christening of the 231-gt Buckley McAllister, a 98 x 36 x 14.7 ft. tractor tug built and delivered by Senesco Marine.

Prior to the official christening the vessel was put through its paces in front of the gathered crowd, as well as thousands of curious onlookers shore side. Powered by a pair of CAT 3516 CHD Tier III engines driving two Lufkin vertical offset reduction gears to a pair of Schottel SRP 1215 Z-Low Speed Drives with a straight line Carbon Fiber Shaft, the tug performed a variety of tight turns and maneuvers. Immediately following the successful cracking of the traditional champagne bottle by Buckley’s 15-year-old daughter Janet McAllister (6th generation), the new addition to the McAllister fleet was celebrated by a number of McAllister and passing vessels, as well as the New York Fire Department’s Fireboat 343, which sprayed streams of red, white and blue water from its monitors in celebration.

The Buckley McAllister will be followed in a few weeks with the delivery of sister tug Eric McAllister, as well as the Tate McAllister, which at 6,000 hp will be one of the most powerful tugs in the McAllister fleet when delivered in October 2014.

Buckley McAllister Main Particulars
Official Number    1251556
Year built             2014
Ship Builder         Senesco Marine
Classification       ABS +A-1 Towing, +AMS, Firefighting Vessel Class 1 (FiFi-1), Escort Vessel
Length, o.a.         98 ft.
Length                 96 ft.
Breadth               36 ft.
Draft                   16.5 ft.
Depth                 14.7 ft.
GT                      231
HP                     5150
Bollard pull          66 tons
Speed                13 knots
Fuel oil              30,000 gal.
Lube oil              500 gal.
Potable water    6,150 gal.
AFF Foam        1,500 gal.
Main engines     2 x CAT 3516 CHD Tier III, 1600 rpm engines rated at 2,575 hp
Gears               2x Lufkin vertical off-set reduction gears
Z-Drives            2 x Schottel SRP 1215 Z-Low Speed Drives with straight line Carbon Fiber Shaft
Generators        2 x John Deere 6068 TFM 76 Tier II 1800 rpm engines driving 2 x 99 kW ship service generators
Towing gear      (fwd) JonRie 250 Series Escort Winch with 600,000 lobs brake holding force and 180,000 lobs line pull, full render/recover with constant scope
                       (aft) JonRie 512 series tow winch with 2100 ft. of 2.25-in. wire
Firefighting        1 x Cat C32 Tier III with 1 x SFP pump at 11,600 gpm
Fire monitors     2 x FFS 1,200 lb. remote controlled monitors with foam injection capability with 1,100 gpm deluge system
EPIRB             ACR
Radar              Furuno
VHF                Icom
Autopilot          Simrad
Depth Sounder  Furuno
AIS                  Furuno
GPS                Furuno